Gather the Troops
by PlushChrome
Summary: Forget Daleks, Cybermen, Angels, and Silence. When an ancient and most deadly foe arises, the Doctor sends out for an army. "You, Amy Pond, are going to gather the troops," he said. "Tell them; 'New face, new man, less plan, need a favor', and then have them call me on Rory's cell." "Less plan? Should I be worried?" "No, not a bit." 5th in our GTTniverse but can be read on its own.
1. Prologue: Steered Wrong

Disclaimer: Believe me, if I owned Doctor Who, you would not be reading this right now. You'd be watching it in a full length movie special.

Furthermore, I can't even claim to have written this all by my lonesome. This story was co-written with my sister, who wanted a story with Ten and Eleven, most of their companions, and a reformed Master.

Special thanks: I would like to thank my laptop, PollyX7, for supporting me throughout this project, and I would like to thank Leroy, our family computer, for doing his best despite old age, slow loading speeds (and everything else) and the increasing desire to go to sleep.

Warnings: Main character death, and spoilers for just about everything, if you've missed a single episode, you probably will read spoilers about it somewhere. Except for Idiot's Lantern. I don't think there will be any spoilers for that one. Not that it's not a good episode, I just don't think I ever reference it. Oh, now I'm rambling. Oh well, there's just a lot of spoilers...

Timelines:

Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory: After Season 6, before Season 7.

Jack: Sometime after Journey's End, Torchwood episodes non-existent.

Mickey and Martha: Sometime after future scene in End of Time.

The Master: Sometime after End of Time.

Donna: Sometime after future scene in End of Time.

Sally and Larry: Sometime after final scene in Blink.

Jenny: Sometime after The Doctor's Daughter.

Rose and John: Sometime after Journey's End.

Tenth Doctor: After Waters of Mars, before End of Time.

River: Sometime after Angels in Manhattan, before Silence of the Library.

OC's Twelfth Doctor, Kara and Jimmy: It's been at least two years since his regeneration from Eleven to Twelve, Jimmy and Kara have been traveling with him for about a year.

* * *

Prologue:

"Meladiere," The Doctor said, spinning away from Amy and Rory and walking toward the TARDIS console. "The biggest city in the universe, spans across three planets, with an interplanetary teleportation public transport system and everything. It's most popular vacation destination is Singing Reefs, an entire suburb built beneath the waters of their biggest ocean. That's where we're going."

The Doctor was starting up the TARDIS as he talked, circling the console, twisting knobs and pushing buttons, all the while smiling at Amy and Rory, who were excited at the prospect of touring a city at the bottom of an ocean.

"The neighborhood is inside an oxygen dome, the sky is _literally_ a lake. Finest subaquatic diners in this part of the galaxy. They've got what is affectionately known as the "Sea Needle," based on your earth's Space Needle, it rises up out of the dome and gives you a whale's eye view of the city below."

The Doctor pulled on a lever and with a lurch, they were off. At first, nothing seemed wrong, but then Amy noticed they were being thrown around a little more violently than usual, and it was getting increasingly worse. A particularly rough spot sent her sprawling to the ground as Rory grabbed hold of the railing and the Doctor toppled backwards down the stairs to the level below.

"Doctor!" Amy called. "What's happening!?"

The Doctor's head popped into view and Amy could see on his face a mixture of confusion, worry, and complete bewilderment. She groaned. "It's going somewhere on it's own again, isn't it?" She called.

He looked at her indignantly. "It's a she," he yelled. "And she's never steered us wrong yet!"

"Yes she has!" Rory cut in. "What about when we were supposed to go to Rio and ended up at that drill in Wales and I died?"

"Or when we went to that hotel spaceship thing, with the Minotaur inside?" Amy said.

"Yeah, that was weird," Rory said. "And what about when-"

"Okay, so maybe a few times," The Doctor admitted as he climbed back up and tried to run for the console. Another lurch sent him running dizzily past it instead, yelling and waving his arms so he could regain his balance.

"I think we're rematerializing!" Amy yelled, as she heard the familiar noise. That was when the engine started sparking. The Doctor, who had gotten to his feet again and had been running towards it, stopped and started yelling again as he changed direction. "To the door, to the door, to the DOOOOOR!" He yelled, grabbing Amy's hand and falling towards the door.

Rory joined them as the Doctor continued trying to make his way to the door. "But we haven't landed yet!" Rory exclaimed. "No matter," Said the Doctor. "Wherever we are, we'd be much safer than in here."

He reached for the door when the TARDIS suddenly began to tilt. "No, no, NO!" The Doctor yelled, as he, Rory and Amy fell backwards into the TARDIS. "Please be there, please be there, please be there!" Amy heard the Doctor yell, but she didn't have time to wonder about it, as she and Rory were yelling themselves.

They crashed through a door and down a hallway before the TARDIS tilted a little further and they landed hard on the ceiling. Then, everything stopped.

After a few moments of waiting and groaning, they all got to their feet. "So then," Amy said. "Meladiere. Nice. Can we go somewhere else now?"

"Oh, shut it, Pond," The Doctor said, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's just focus on getting back to the door. Although," he said, looking around at the hallway they were in. "This does make it easier than when I had to climb from the swimming pool. It's lucky we stopped here, I'm not sure the pool is still there. _That_ wouldn't have been very fun, now would it?"

They made their way back through the corridor and into the control room, which was smoking heavily, the engine still sparking. "Cover your mouths! Quick!" The Doctor said, pulling his jacket up to cover his mouth and nose. Amy and Rory followed suit and they clambered down into the ceiling and back up the other side towards the door.

"Now then," the Doctor said, using his screwdriver to turn the handle, which was out of his reach. "We just have to figure out what caused the TARDIS to go off course. We're looking for some sort of alien technology, anything that seems like it might be out of place."

He climbed through the door, followed by Amy and Rory. They found themselves in London, with crowds of screaming people pointing at the sky. They all looked up and stared. Hovering over London and taking up the entire view of the sky was the biggest space ship Amy had ever seen, even after nearly ten years of the Doctor.

"Found it," she said.


	2. Chapter 1: Rolling the Call

The Doctor pulled out his Sonic screwdriver and held it up in the sky, scanning the large spaceship above them. Pulling it back down, he read the results. "This is interesting," he said. "The language is very old, very, _very_ old. I can only translate about half of it."

"So what is it?" Amy asked, looking over his shoulder at the device which, of course, told her nothing.

"It seems to be a Paradox machine," The Doctor said. "But the technology is _extremely_ complex. I've never seen anything like it." The Doctor blinked confusedly. "It sure is familiar, though... I know what this is, I'm sure of it, I just can't... quite remember..."

He looked up at it again and back down to his screwdriver. Suddenly, the TARDIS gave a low groan, and he was momentarily distracted. "Oh, quick, let's try to get her right-side up again!"

They turned to the TARDIS, which was blackened with smoke. She was upside down and leaning against a brick wall that was now partially in ruins. She was also partially buried in upturned grass and dirt, and they could see that she had scraped along the ground for some time, carrying some of it with her.

Pushing and shoving, the three of them managed to push the TARDIS over so she was on her side, and, after struggling for several minutes trying to get her right side up, they finally succeeded in righting it and they fell to the grass, tired out from trying to lift the heavy box.

The hysterical people running around hadn't seemed to notice the falling blue box or the three strangers sitting next to it, which wasn't much of a shock, considering all eyes were on the sky. Rory looked around for a moment and then turned to the Doctor.

"So, did you remember what it was?" He asked. The Doctor shook his head. "No," he said. "I can't remember, I just know that I've seen that ship before." He frowned and looked down at his screwdriver. "The language was very old," he said. "Much older than any other language I've ever encountered, which is a bit scary, because I speak everything. It was almost similar to Gallifreyan, however. There were a few familiar root words."

"Familiar?" Amy asked. "How familiar?"

The Doctor shrugged. "There are just a few similarities, that's all. A few of their words are a lot like a few of Gallifreyan words. Like, paradox, time, gravity, chocolate, dimensions, darkness..."

The Doctor trailed off and a look of horror grew on his face as his eyes grew wide.

"What? What is it?" Amy asked worriedly.

The Doctor scanned the ship again and studied the results wildly. "Oh..." he said quietly. He looked at Amy and Rory, opening his mouth and closing it again before turning away.

"Tell me what is going on!" Amy said, fear being replaced with frustration.

"No, it can't possibly be them," The Doctor said. "They don't exist, it can't possibly. Yes, there's no way it could be them, I must have misread."

"Doctor," Amy said. "It can't be who?" The Doctor waved his hand at her. "It doesn't matter," he said. "If it isn't them, there's no reason for me to bother you with it."

"Oh, for goodness sake, Doctor, just tell us," Rory said. "Alright," The Doctor said. "Whatever they are, they can't be the Tenissfuin."

"Okay," Rory said. "So they can't be them. Who are the Tenissfuin?"

"Just a myth, nothing more," The Doctor said firmly. "Maybe my screwdriver is malfunctioning."

"Tell us this myth," Amy demanded. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Oh, like we have time for storytelling! Really, Pond!" He said, examining his screwdriver.

"Well, what if it's important?" She asked defensively. "Besides, when have you ever missed out on an opportunity show off and tell us one of your pointless stories about the history of this or that race?"

The Doctor smirked. "Flattery," he said. "Very good, Pond. Fine, I'll tell you, but you're getting the very _very _condensed version."

Amy and Rory leaned against the TARDIS, settling down to listen to the Doctor talk about the Tenissfuin.

"The Tenissfuin, an ancient race that exist only in the oldest of legends," The Doctor said. "Legends that painted them as the phantoms of ultimate evil. They were dark, so dark that Tenissfuin literally translates as Darkness, and several languages all over the universe still use their name to describe the dark.

They were said to be terrible, silent creatures that invaded your very essence or soul. Possessors. Some legends said they had been corrupted by the power at their grasp, and ruled every living thing. But there were those opposed to them, and the entire race somehow got destroyed in the greatest of all wars, which destroyed every thing that existed, creating a whole new realm of chaos in its place. Some people believe this to be the creation of the universe.

Some people also believe that all the Tenissfuin were destroyed in the war, but a few cultures say that there was a remnant. Some say this remnant became the literal Darkness in the new universe they created, some say that they remained in hiding, to strike again, and some say they exist outside of the universe, unaware of the complex little world they created. There was even a sect of believers on Gallifrey, who said that this remnant was given bodily form and left destitute in their creation, their powers broken, to eventually evolve into the first Time Lords.

Either way, the legends all agreed that the Tenissfuin are very, very bad, but that's just what they are, legends. Now then, any questions?"

"Yeah," Amy said. "What are they doing here, now? What do they want with us?" "They don't want anything with us, Pond! They're just myths! Nothing more."

"You mean like the Pandorica?" Amy asked, raising her eyebrows.

The Doctor shifted his weight uncomfortably. "That was different," He said. "That was a myth created from your memory and then hidden throughout time so I would hear it. This is real."

"How do you know?" Amy said. "You ought to be willing to look at this with an open mind. What if this was these Tenissfuin things and you messed up because you didn't believe in them?"

The Doctor frowned. "But it's impossible," he said. "There's no way these beings could exist," "That's what I used to think about you," Rory said absently. The Doctor started and looked at him. "Really?" He asked. Rory looked at him.

"Yeah," he said. "Back when Amy and I were kids, and she would tell me the stories about you. I thought I knew she was pretending, because there was no possible way you could exist."

The Doctor looked disconcerted. "Well then," he said. "I suppose we could investigate a little bit, see if we can find out whether or not these people are the Tenissfuin. And if they're not, we'll find out just who they are."

"Fair enough," Amy said. "And how are we going to do that?"

The Doctor stood up. "The way we always do," he said. "Investigate."

"And how are we going to do that?" Rory asked, standing up as well. The Doctor turned and smiled at them, pulling out his psychic paper. "See who calls for our help."

* * *

Captain Jack Harkness was having a very bad day. As another small explosion sounded, marking the end of another computer, he ran from one monitor to another, trying to ignore the red alert sirens blaring in his head.

"Have you finished the scans yet?" He called to Gwen Cooper, who was also running back and forth between the computers. "Yeah," she said. "And I can't figure out anything about it. It's like nothing we've ever seen before, and it's overloading our computers."

Jack ran over and looked over her shoulder. The results were indeed very confusing, and there were several strange symbols, presumably some alien language they hadn't encountered. Although it certainly looked familiar. He was sure he'd seen something like it before.

That's when it hit him. The strange circular symbols reminded him of the Doctor. Was it possible this was Gallifreyan?

Pulling out his psychic paper, he concentrated on sending a message to the one man he knew who could help.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked. Jack closed his eyes to concentrate. "Cashing in a favor," he said.

_Hey Doc, need some help. Jack._

* * *

"Well, that's a big one," Mickey said, looking over his wife's shoulder out their kitchen window.

"Yeah," Martha agreed, staring at the ship in the sky. "Any messages?" Mickey shook his head. "The usual clients seem to be pretty busy."

Martha considered this, and decided it might be for the better. "Well, if we're not being hired, maybe we should sit this one out," she said. Mickey thought it over. "Maybe," he said. "It bein' dangerous and all."

Martha smiled. "Wouldn't want to risk the baby," She said quietly. Mickey smiled as well, and reaching out a hand, placed it on his wife's stomach, which was a bit bigger than it had been before.

"Yeah," he said. "Wouldn't want to risk my son." "You mean my little girl," Martha said teasingly. Then her face sobered as she turned back to the window. "Still," she said. "It probably would be best to at least see what's going on, so we can be prepared."

Mickey nodded, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and going through the contacts. "Who should we call?" He asked. Martha frowned in thought. There was only one person she was thinking of, even with all the connections she'd made as a U.N.I.T. soldier and later, as a mercenary.

"Call the Doctor," she said. Mickey looked up at her and then smiled. "Alright," he said, returning his attentions to the phone. Pressing the call button, he handed the phone to Martha,who held it up to her ear as it rang.

* * *

"Oh, I'm sorry, your Majesty," The Doctor said. "I'm getting another call. I'll look into it, I promise." With that, he pressed a button, ending the call with the Queen. "That was the Queen," he said proudly to Amy and Rory, who nodded, humoring him. He had already said so three times.

"Hello, Martha!" The Doctor said, returning the phone to his ear. "I presume you're calling about the spaceship in the sky. Yes, this is the Doctor, who did you think it was? Well, you called me, might I remind you."

He shuddered slightly and held the Psychic paper up to eye level as he talked. "Oh, well, alright then. Yes, I'm looking into it right now. No, you're not the first to call." He smiled at the psychic paper. "How are you doing then? Oh, you don't say! Well, congratulations, is it a boy or a girl? Oh, you don't know yet. Well, that's nice, I-"

He suddenly trailed off and stared at his Psychic paper in horror.

"Doctor?" Amy asked, knowing instinctively that something was very, very wrong.

He just stood there, and he pulled the phone away from his ear, glancing from the paper to the phone fearfully.

"Doctor, what is it?" Amy asked, running up to him and looking at the psychic paper. In clear, black letters, a new message was appearing on the paper, overlapping the message from Jack.

_The Darkness is rising. All will be consumed._

* * *

Jack stared down at the Psychic paper, not believing what he saw. New words were showing up, in handwriting that definitely wasn't the Doctor's.

_The Darkness is rising. All will be consumed._

* * *

Martha looked at her husband fearfully. "What is it?" He asked, concerned by her expression. Without saying anything, she held the phone up to his ear. A new voice was speaking, the call with the Doctor had been cut off.

_"The Darkness is rising. All will be consumed."_

* * *

Brian leaned back in his chair, the sight of the giant spaceship was worrisome, of course, but he had complete faith in his son and daughter in law, as well as the Doctor, to take care of it. Sipping his iced tea, he stopped suddenly and looked at the radio. He had been listening to the news talk about the appearance, but this was different. This new voice was loud and snarling, yet at the same time, whispering quietly. It was enough to worry even this trusting individual.

"The Darkness is rising. All will be consumed."

* * *

"The Darkness is rising," The Doctor read from his psychic paper. He looked up at Amy and Rory as he finished the quote. "All will be consumed."

"The Darkness?" Rory asked. "Are they talking literal darkness, or the alien legend thing?"

The Doctor sighed. "I wish I could say they were talking literally," he said. "But I'm afraid even if they aren't the Tenissfuin, they seem to have named themselves the Darkness. See, it's capitalized on my psychic paper."

"But are they the Tennissfuin or not?" Amy asked. The Doctor hesitated. "I don't want to say for certain that they are," he said. "But it certainly is beginning to seem that way."

"Yes! So I was right," Amy said, smirking. The Doctor frowned. "I don't think you're quite grasping the gravity of this situation," he said. "We could be facing an enemy so ancient, so powerful, that they were rumored to have created the universe by fighting. The original big bang. Time Lords are nothing compared to what these people were in power. This, Amy Pond, is the real deal."

Amy didn't look quite so smug now. "Well, what are we going to do?" She asked.

"I don't know," He said, raising his sonic screwdriver again and scanning the ship. Looking at it, he pursed his lips. "The Darkness is rising," he read from the device. "All shall be consumed."

"What does that mean, 'All shall be consumed?" Rory asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"If I were to guess," he said. "They intend to destroy the human race," he said. "If they are the Tenissfuin, and the legends are true, then they will find a way to possess the human race. If not, they might be carnivores, looking for a food source."

Amy looked slightly anxious. "Well, we've got to do something," she said. "I know that, let me think a minute!" The Doctor said. Closing his eyes and rubbing his head, he began to pace back and forth on the sidewalk.

"Alright," he said finally, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket and beginning to write. "Here's what we'll do."

He turned to Amy and Rory and talked as he wrote.

"You, Amelia Pond, are going to gather the troops." The Doctor said, ripping the page out of the notebook and then holding it out to Amy. "Each person on this list is crucial, completely vital. And you need to make sure that you get them in order. Give each of them the same message, except for River of course."

"River?" Amy interrupted, a bit confused.

"Yes, River! You can't gather the troops without River Song!" The Doctor exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "But like I was saying you need to give them this message or they won't really get it. Tell them, new face, new man, less plan, need a favor; and then have them call me on Rory's cell."

"What do you mean by new face?" Asked Amy. "And less plan? Should I be worried?"

"No, not a bit. Just tell them that, and then have them call me for further instructions." The Doctor told her, handing her the notebook. "The first person on the list gets another message that's just for him. Tell him 'Don't start anything, She's married'."

"What did you say?" Rory asked, sounding stressed and slightly concerned.

"Nothing, nothing." The Doctor sighed. "I'm going to distract the Tenissfuin so that you have time. Rory, you're with me."

"Why am I with you?" Rory asked, though he seemed already resigned.

"Because, I travel with companions." The Doctor explained. "And if they know anything about me and I don't have someone with me, they'll get suspicious. So you're going to stay with me, while Amy gets me an army."

Amy inspected the list in confusion. "Jack Harkness at Torchwood institute? Dr. Martha Smith and Mickey? Sally Sparrow?" She read aloud. "I haven't heard anything about these people, why are they important?"

"They're definitely important, _everyone_ I travel with is important!" The Doctor exclaimed as he walked to somewhere in the TARDIS, ignoring the smoke coming from the dead console and searching inside some boxes. "But these people are all extra crucial! The first one especially. But then the second one is second most important."

"So, I'm just supposed to go on my own, with a big, dark, monster out there, and gather the troops?" Amy asked, somewhat annoyed and scared. "While you and Rory run around like crazy people and put your lives in constant danger?"

"Yes, and don't forget the message." The Doctor told her. "It's important, especially for the first one on the list. But look what I still have!"

He pulled some roman armor out of a box and Rory groaned.

"Again?" He sighed.

"It's absolutely perfect, Rory!" The Doctor said, laughing and tossing Rory his sword. "It's great. Nothing says major distraction more then a roman centurion and a man wearing a Stetson!"

"But River shot your Stetson." Rory said rationally. The Doctor smiled and placed upon his head a Stetson that was nearly identical to the one that River had shot.

"Now then, I'll see you later, Pond." He said. "We'd better get out of the TARDIS and get started because we really need to take these people down. Rory and I will go first. Wait ten minutes before you leave the TARDIS and remember, everyone is counting on you! The fate of everything lies on your shoulders."

He grinned and opened the TARDIS doors. "But no pressure. Come on, Rory!"

"Bye, Amy. I'll see you later." Rory said, kissing Amy's cheek and then turning and following the Doctor out the doors. Amy sighed and waited for ten minutes before stepping out into the street. How on earth was she supposed to find the people on this list? And the Doctor had said she must get them in order. Looking down, she read the first name. Jack Harkness from Torchwood Institute.

Looking around, she decided to start by going down a random street and ask everybody about this Torchwood thing. Maybe somebody could point her in the right direction.


	3. Chapter 2: The 1st Actual Gathering Part

Amy didn't have far to walk before she was stopped by a man in a civil war style army jacket, who could have been described as handsome if she wasn't married.

"Hey," he said, in a decidedly American accent. "Are you Amelia Pond?"

"Yes," she said, looking him over suspiciously. "And you are?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he said, smiling and holding out his hand. "The Doctor sent me."

"How did the Doctor send you?" She asked. "I just left the Doctor ten minutes ago."

"Psychic paper," Jack said with a smirk, holding up his psychic paper. The message from the Darkness had stopped being sent, and Amy could see the Doctor's handwriting spelling out a new message.

_Amelia Pond, Very ginger, find her, she can help._

Underneath the message was a crudely drawn map of the street she was on, with a small arrow pointing towards the TARDIS she had just left.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be," she said. "The Doctor sent me on a mission to gather an army," she said, pulling the piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to Jack. "He said to gather everyone on this list, starting with you, as you could help me with the rest of them."

Jack looked over the list and read them aloud. "Jack Harkness at Torchwood institute," he read. "Martha Smith and Micky, Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale, Rose Tyler and me, and River Song."

He looked up at Amy. "That's a lot of people to gather," he said. "What's going on, why does the Doctor need an army?"

Amy took back the list and looked at this Jack person. There was just something about him that she didn't like. She wasn't sure what it was, he seemed like a nice enough guy. There was just something... off.

"He needs an army to fight the Darkness," she said. "Apparently, they might be some evil creatures from a myth about how the universe was created or something."

Jack chuckled. "Figures," he said. "Seems every time he turns around there's a bigger threat than last time. So where do you fit into all this? I assume you're the Doctor's companion. Where is he?"

Suddenly, Amy remembered her messages. "Oh, he gave me a message to deliver, to everybody on the list," she said. Jack smiled. "Okay then, let's hear it!" He said.

"He said to tell you 'New face, new man, less plan, need a favor.' Then he wants you to call him on Rory's cell."

"And who's Rory?" Jack asked, confused. "He's another companion," Amy said. "And my husband."

Jack blinked, and Amy laughed. "That was your special message from the Doctor," she said. "He said 'Don't try anything, she's married.' And I am. Happily."

Jack sighed. "Well, I had to try," he said with a smile. "Alright, give me this Rory person's phone number, I'll call him up."

He entered the number into his phone and waited patiently as it rang. After a moment, the Doctor answered.

"This is the first call, so hello Jack! How are you? How do you like my new voice? I wasn't sure about it in the beginning, but it's very good for yelling."

It seemed the new Doctor got right to the point. "You regenerated?" Jack asked.

"Yes, I have more hair, less freckles, and very peculiar taste buds. Anyway, I need a favor. Amy probably told you that already, but I do need one. It's a big one, actually, I need you to stick with Amy and gather the troops. All of the troops. Amy's got the list. Okay, Rory, I see them! Jack, I've got to run. Literally, I've got to run for my life in about two seconds. Take care of Amy!"

Jack hung up and turned to Amy. "He didn't tell me anything new," he said. "So let's get to work."

"Next on the list is someone named Martha Smith, and Mickey is added as an afterthought," Amy said. "How are we going to find these people?"

Jack smiled. "Leave it to me," he said. "They're pretty good friends of mine, so I know where they live. Come on, I'll introduce you."

* * *

Amy stood behind Jack as he knocked on the door to the small apartment. It wasn't overly nice, but it wasn't nearly as big or as grand as the blue house the Doctor had given to her and Rory. She briefly wondered why, but decided not to think about it.

The door opened slightly and a man glanced out, the look on his face revealing that he hadn't been expecting anything friendly.

As soon as he saw Jack, however, he smiled and opened the door wider. "Jack!" He said. "Come on in, man! Martha, it's Jack!" A woman with long braids going down her back stepped into the room, and Amy could see at a glance that she was pregnant. The woman smiled when she saw Jack. "Jack!" She said, just like her husband had done. "It's been how long? Four years? Where have you been? Seriously, it's been too long!"

"Yeah it has," Jack said, smirking as he stepped into the apartment. "But I'm afraid this isn't a social call."

"Thought not," Mickey said, his smile giving place to a look of seriousness as they all sat down in what Amy assumed was the living room.

"I mean," Mickey continued. "Space ship in the sky, a weird voice taking over the phones, Darkness rising, all that stuff. And who's this?" Mickey turned to Amy. "Another one of your Torchwood crew?"

"Oh, no, not mine," Jack said, glancing at Amy. "This is the Doctor's newest companion," he said. "This is Amelia Pond. Amelia, this is Dr. Martha Smith, and her husband, Mickey the Idiot."

Mickey scoffed and Martha reached out to shake Amy's hand. Amy smiled and said. "Just call me Amy. And I'm actually Amy Williams now, but the Doctor refuses to call me that."

The three of them chuckled and then Martha turned to Amy.

"If you're his companion," she asked. "Then where is he?"

Amy smiled at her. She really liked this Martha woman. "The Doctor is currently out trying to distract the enemy," she said. "I'm out gathering a small army for him."

Martha looked horrified. "He's trying to _distract_ them!?" She said. "He's going to get himself killed!"

Amy held up her hands. "No, it's okay, my husband's with him," she said. "And believe me, if anyone can keep the Doctor out of trouble, it's Rory. Heaven knows we've saved his life more than once already."

Martha still looked a bit worried, but she nodded and moved on. "So, this army," She asked. "Who all is in it?"

"So far, it's just the four of us," Jack said. "But Amy's got the list, and we're going to need to get busy as soon as you guys call."

"Call?" Mickey asked. Amy nodded. "The Doctor gave me a message to deliver to everyone, and then they're supposed to call him on my husband's cell phone. The message is this: 'New face, new man, less plan, need a favor'." "What does that mean, new face?" Martha asked.

"It probably means he regenerated," Mickey said. "About time, too. Both the Doctor's I knew were pretty goofy looking."

Jack scoffed. "You got that right," he said. "First the Ninth, with his ears and that crazy smile..."

"And then the Tenth, and all that hair!" Mickey laughed. Martha slapped his shoulder playfully. "It wasn't that bad," she said. Then she hesitated. "Then again, he could do some crazy stuff, and his face matched whatever insane stunt he was pulling."

"Well, I don't know about them," Amy said, smirking. "But mine wears a bow tie."

Everyone looked at her. "You're kidding." Jack finally said. Amy shook her head. "And suspenders," she said, as Martha raised her eyebrows and Mickey started to smile. "And one time, he even had a fez."

Everyone groaned. "We've gotta hurry up and gather this army," Jack said. "So we can meet up with the Doctor and talk some sense into him!"

"Well, the next step is for Mickey or Martha to call up the Doctor, let him know we found you," Amy said. Mickey walked over to his phone and turned to Amy. "You said he wants us to use your husband's number?" He asked. Amy nodded and gave him the number and he dialed, handing the phone to Martha.

After a moment, the Doctor picked up.

"Oh good, so you got the message! This is the second call, so you must be… Martha! Or Mickey. Either you're Mickey or Martha. But I guess it doesn't matter, as you're married and all. Congratulations, I'm sorry I couldn't bring you a present. Oh, don't be so daft, Rory, yours was a special case."

"Doctor, what's going on?" Martha asked.

"Oh, so you ARE Martha! So nice to talk to you again. Tell Mickey I said hi. Actually, you don't have the time. Stop tapping me, Rory, I know they're coming! Listen, Martha, I need to go. What YOU need to do is stick with Jack and Amy for the time being, you might have to split up sometime, but not now. I need you, Mickey, and Jack to try and contact Rose. Bring her to this dimension, if possible. And bring the other one if you have to, the other Me. Well of course there's another me, Rory! You think that with over 1100 years of life, I've never been cloned!? …Well, that's stupid! Listen, Martha, I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

Martha hung up and put the phone back on it's hook. "Well," she said. "The Doctor wants us to bring Rose. That's gonna take awhile."

"Why?" Amy asked. "Why would that take awhile?"

"Because Rose Tyler and her husband live in another dimension," Jack said. "And travel between dimensions is supposed to be impossible."

"Impossible?" Amy said. "Then how did she get there in the first place?"

"When you travel with the Doctor, there's no such thing as impossible," Mickey said. "Now, let's get to work!"

* * *

"Space... the Final Frontier..." Yelled the Master, bored out of his mind (or into it, he wasn't quite sure anymore), he had been singing every television theme song he'd ever heard, and this one seemed to fit.

"These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. IT'S CONTINUING MISSION! To seek out new life, and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before."

Then he paused, took a deep breath, and yelled "DUUUH, DUH-DUH-DUUUUH, DU-DUH-DUUUUUUUUH! DUH-DUH-DUH-DUH-DUUUH-DUH-DUUUH, DUH-DUH-DUUUUUUH!"

"It is time!" said the warbled voice behind him. The Master stopped singing and turned to his companion. "Time?" He asked. "What time? Time doesn't exist in this place!"

It was true. Time had ceased existing ever since the Master had found himself here, which had been both an eternity and only a few moments. Or, measured in his own special way, he'd been here for at least 16,783,449 beats of the drums.

He wasn't sure how long he would have been in here by human terms. He'd tried translating once, figuring each tap-tap-tap-tap of the drums to be one beat, and one beat to be around two and a half seconds of Earth time, but he could never focus. The Void had a way of messing with one's head, even if one's head already had been messed with time and time again.

He assumed he was living (or dead) proof of that, but the real proof of the pudding was in the very small, very armored head of his companion.

"Time is starting up again!" Dalek Caan said in a sing-song voice. "Can't you feel it? Time is beginning to exist again, it is time, and it is also time for us to go!"

Dalek Caan had fallen into the Void who knows how long ago, and had apparently seen the whole of time and space when he fell. For this reason, he had become a sort of crazed fortune telling Dalek, which the Master had found so funny that he had spared the Dalek's life. "Well, not life exactly, he would have come back, they always do..."

"You are talking to yourself again..." Dalek Caan muttered, turning his damaged eye-thingy towards the Master, who laughed. "So I did," he said. "I was just thinking of that time a second ago, or was it a forever ago?" The Master paused to think, and then shrugged and started up. "Anyway, I was thinking of that time when I decided to blow up all the Daleks that were trapped here."

"Ah yes," Dalek Caan said, turning back to... well, emptiness. "That also was foretold, just as it was foretold that you would fall into the Void, just as it was foretold that the DoctorDonna must be reunited against the Darkness, just as it was foretold that the waters of Mars would be unleashed, just as it was foretold that..."

The Master sighed. When Dalek Caan began talking about all that was foretold, he usually carried on for at least 120 beats of the drums. As Dalek Caan talked on, the Master tuned him out, focusing instead on what the Dalek had said earlier, about time beginning to go again.

Now that he thought of it, he thought he could sense it too. He let out a small laugh and closed his eyes. Not that it made much of a difference in the Void. You never knew if you were seeing something or not, whether or not your eyes were open.

But at any rate, he wanted to focus on time, and where it might be coming from.

"...was foretold that we would be drawn to this place, and then we would head our separate ways, just as it was foretold that the Pandorica would open, just as it was foretold that you would join the Doctor in his fight against the Tenissfuin, just as it was foretold that Josh Dean would-"

"Wait, what was that part about the Doctor?" The Master said, frowning at the mad Dalek.

"Ah yes!" Dalek Caan said. "It was foretold that you and the Doctor would join forces in the fight of fights, facing an enemy far more ancient and evil than any you have faced before!"

He gave a mad sort of chuckle and continued. "The Doctor and the Master, and all the Doctor's children, fighting side by side. And one will still die!"

The Dalek started laughing in earnest as the Master made a face. He would be fighting with the Doctor? And all the Doctor's little friends? Despicable. Still, there was one thing he knew now, for certain. He was going to find some way to escape from the Void. He started counting out his drum beats with newfound determination. Time was beginning to exist again, so wherever this escape was, it was probably someplace close.

* * *

It had been exactly 3,725 beats of the drum before they found any sort of sign that all was not right in the Void. And by right, he meant completely one-hundred percent horrifyingly wrong, completely opposite to all that was bright or beautiful.

But what they found was definitely not something that could usually be found in the Void.

For one thing, it was light. A huge expanse of light, reaching from one part of the Void to another. For another thing, it looked like a crack. No, literally, it looked like the empty expanse of the Void had gotten cracked, and now the light was seeping through into the darkness.

"I take it that's our way out?" The Master asked. Dalek Caan giggled. "Just as it was foretold," he said. "This is goodbye, Master! I shall not see you again!" "Wait, what?" The Master asked, curious. "Then where are you going?"

"I am going to another crack in time," the Dalek said. "Where I will spend my life ensuring the smooth progress of all that has been foretold. Enter into the crack, it will not work the same way here, you will still be remembered."

"Ah," said the Master, pretending that he had the faintest idea what the insane metal-bound squid type thing was going on about now. "And where am I going?"

"You are going where you are needed," Dalek Caan told him. "You will change sides! Oh yes, you are going to help the Doctor! It is the only way you will live! And after the DoctorDonna is reunited, you must call the Doctor!"

Dalek Caan began to laugh again as the two of them closed the distance between themselves and the glowing crack. The Master pouted and sighed. "Aww," he whined. "I don't want to be a good guy! It's too... Yeauch!"

The Light surrounded him and suddenly, he felt. He felt hot, then he felt cold, then he felt reasonably warm, and for a fraction of a second, his drum beats slowed and then sped up, and then he was suddenly standing in a well-lit living room, and he could feel time again. He was on Earth, in the middle of the day, in October 2013, and he could also feel a very strange sort of energy pulse coming from the skies above.

Hearing a small shriek, he turned to face a woman with reddish hair, who was staring at him and pointing.

"Oi," she said. "Saxon-man! You think you can get off, coming in here in broad daylight, trying to rob my house!? Well, think again!" She seemed to be angry, but the Master had more important things to worry about. Rushing to the door, he ran out into the street and looked up. Yes, there it was! A giant spaceship, hovering over London, taking up almost the entire view of the sky.

"You there, wait a minute!" The woman yelled, coming out of the house. "I've seen you before," she said. The Master turned to her. She seemed to be confused. "Have you?" He asked suspiciously. That shouldn't be right, he knew she hadn't been on the Valiant during his reign as Harold Saxon, and nobody should remember seeing him the second time around.

Unless... "Well, maybe we've met somewhere before," he said. "What's your name?"

The woman eyed him suspiciously. "What's it to you?" She demanded rudely.

"Oh, that's very simple," he answered. "I'm a Time Lord named the Master, and I'm trying to find a Time Lord named the Doctor, and we're going to fight some aliens known as the Tenissfuin, and in order to do that, I need to find a metacrisis named DoctorDonna and reunite the Donna part with the Doctor part, and since you seem to remember me, I'm assuming your name is Donna."

That should do the trick. The woman looked at him for a minute before giving a small gasp and clutching at her head. Yeah, this was definitely Donna. "Oh, so I've found you!" He said, grinning. The woman looked up at him. "I... I don't understand," she said. "These pictures... in my head!" She closed her eyes. "It burns!" She said.

"Oh, well that's the affects of the metacrisis," He said calmly. "I jogged your memory. Now you're going to die."

"WHAT!?" She screamed, standing up and glaring at him. "OI! YOU MADE THIS HAPPEN, SO FIX IT!"

"Fine," The Master said, pouting.

"Let's see, how do you fix a metacrisis?" He asked himself, walking over to Donna and putting his hand under his chin as if he were thinking. "Hmm, you're definitely going to die, no human can withstand the power of the Time Lord's consciousness. Oh, I know!"

He grinned and summoned the power of regeneration energy into his hand and then waited and watched as Donna grew more and more agitated with the pain in her head.

It wasn't that he liked to watch it, no, he was already bored of this waiting thing. But unless she was truly dying, the regeneration wouldn't cause a true partial regeneration, it would simply heal the human part of her. And if she remained mostly human, she would simply begin burning again.

So he waited until the human girl collapsed before placing his glowing hand on her forehead and transferring the regeneration energy into her.

He realized that it would take much more energy than he had at first anticipated, the metacrisis must have been a particularly strong one.

"Oh, you're a strong one, aren't you?" He muttered, pouring more and more regeneration energy into the woman. She finally ceased burning and the Master sighed angrily as he pulled away. That had taken much, much more than he would have liked. He had wasted two and a half regenerations!

"Oh, I'm really turning," he muttered to himself. "I'd never live this down!"

Donna stood up shakily. "What was that!?" She barked, glaring at the Master, who grinned. "That," he said. "Was me forced to give up regeneration energy to a half-human half-Time Lord, but you'll be fine now, I've made you mostly Time Lord with only a smidgen of human left."

"Why would you do that?" Donna yelled. "I liked being human!" Then his words seemed to sink in, and she began to remember. "Oh my gosh," she said. "Time Lord, I'm... I'm a..."

"Time Lord, yes," The Master said disinterestedly. "You're going to remember a lot of strange things. Now can I borrow your phone?"

Donna sat down and ignored him. "The Doctor," she said. "What happened to the Doctor?"

"Darned if I know," said the Master. "What do you think I am, the Doctor's playmate?"

He shook his head and held out his hand. "Now," he said. "Phone?"

Donna looked up at him. "Yeah," she said. "In the kitchen."

He went into the kitchen and saw a cell phone lying on the counter. Picking it up, he stuck his head back through the door into the living room.

"Donna," he said. "Can you please try to remember the Doctor's phone number? It's rather important."

Donna glared at him. "Oi, Saxon!" she said. "Going through something here!"

The Master pouted. "Fine," he said. "Whenever _you're_ ready, you tell me his phone number. I'll just wait around in here while the Tenissfuin invade London and the Doctor does who-knows-what to try and stop them, all by himself!"

Donna sent him another glare and the Master turned and sighed down at the phone. How was he supposed to call the Doctor without a phone number.

Suddenly, the object in his hand beeped, and he saw that the human had gotten a text message. He was about to ignore it when he realized with a start that the number calling was identified as 444-444-4444.

That couldn't be a coincidence. Flipping open the phone, he read the text message.

_Master- I did it because he forgave me before I even met him. Also, this makes twice for me. Now, call this number._

Below that was a phone number. The Master smiled at the unknown person who had sent this message. How they'd known he was here, he had no idea. But, for a time traveler, that could be easily accomplished.

Dialing the number, he waited as it rang. He would have to be careful how he phrased his explanation about Donna. It wouldn't do to have the Doctor know just how much regeneration energy he'd given her.

"How much I shall have to conceal," he quoted. Then the phone stopped ringing and he heard a rather unexpected voice come through from the other end.

"Hello, this is the third phone call, so you must be… Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale! Thanks for the information by the way, totally saved my life-"

The Master cut him off. This must be the next Doctor's regeneration. He certainly knew how to talk your ear off.

"I'm afraid this isn't Sally Sparrow, Doctor, although I am glad to have saved your life!" He said, grinning even though he knew the Doctor couldn't see him.

"Oh, don't I have enough problems without you getting into all this!?" The Doctor said. "No, not Sally Sparrow, Rory! Sally Sparrow is a friend! I'm talking to the Master! Well, so what if you've never heard of him!? No offense, Rory, but you don't matter in the slightest! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

The Master sighed dramatically. "Doctor, this is actually somewhat important," he said.

"What? Oh yes, go ahead. What do you want? Besides the world, I mean. Can't give you that, I'm afraid."

"Why, I'm here to help you, obviously! A new face and a new voice don't make any difference in the world to me or Donna. Although, that voice is pretty annoying."

"Well, that's what I thought too, at first, but it's actually very good for- wait! Donna!? What have you done to Donna!?"

"I haven't done anything to Donna, I'm trying to help. Tell him, Donna!"

The Master ran into the living room and handed the phone to Donna, who was running her hand through her hair. "Doctor!?" She said.

"DONNA!? You remember me?"

"Yes! I guess so, I don't know! I was just cooking dinner when suddenly there's a flash of light and a _blonde Harold Saxon_ is standing in my living room! A _blonde. Harold. Saxon_! And then he did something to my head, and now I keep having visions about you and aliens and stars and spaceships and Christmas trees! I missed it all again!"

"Wait, what did he do to your head? And how is he alive anyway? Yes, Rory, I _know_. But this is important! No,_ more_ important! Well, then, run him through with your sword or something!"

The Master took the phone from Donna and held it up to his ear.

"Doctor, the Master speaking. It was very simple, actually. First of all, I wasn't dead. I was_ mostly_ dead. There's a difference."

The Master looked at Donna and smirked at his movie quote before returning to his explanation.

"When I killed the Lord President and disconnected the gateway between Gallifrey and the Earth, there was a splinter in the gateway, leading to the Void. The planet and most of the Time Lords simply returned to the time lock. As for me, however, I decided I'd have better luck somewhere else. So I jumped into the Void."

"You _jumped in_!? But that's suicide!"

"Yes, and it's the most boring place in the world by the way, except crawling with Daleks. After I blew them all up, I fell through a glowing crack in space and ended up here on earth. I figured out what was going on and decided that in order to be on the winning side, I had to be on_ your_ side. So I found Donna. Well, naturally, as soon as I explained what was going on, the metacrisis began, so I used one of my regenerations to keep her alive."

"You used a regeneration!? Yes, Rory, he's a Time lord. Duck."

"Yes, Rory, I'm a Time lord. Duck." The Master repeated, looking at Donna and rolling his eyes. "But yes. You see, while I was in the Void, I ran into a rather peculiar Dalek named Caan, who told me that the DoctorDonna must be reunited for you to succeed. So I reunited them! I didn't want to, of course, but it couldn't be helped."

"But Dalek Caan was destroyed, Donna and I did that years ago!"

"You destroyed him!?" The Master said. "What did you go and do that for!?"

"He was insane!" The Doctor said. "And it wasn't even me, it was the other me. And Donna."

The Master turned and sent a glare to Donna, who shrugged, not having heard the conversation. Then he returned to the conversation.

"I guess that explains where he ran off to, then," The Master said with a sigh. "Different timelines and all that. He didn't tell you about me?"

"Oh yes, he told me," the Doctor said cryptically. "Well, if you insist on helping, I could use all the help I could get. Oh, you are gonna be great! I can't wait to get started! Yes, yes, Rory, RUN! Master, I'm gathering the troops. Try to find Martha! You remember Martha, don't you?"

"Of course I remember Martha," The Master said with a smile. "But I don't know how well she'll react to my presence. I did capture her family and torture them and you for a year, remember?"

"Oh, well, you have Donna, so she'll be able to put in a good word for you. But for now, I have to go. FIND THEM!"

With that, the Doctor hung up. "He wants us to find Miss Martha Jones," He told Donna. "You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?" Donna looked surprised. "Martha!" She said. "I remember now! I don't know where she is, but maybe if we tried the phone book..."

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be a Martha Jones in the phone book. The Master sighed.

"We're going to have to try something else," he said. "Start thinking."

* * *

_Author's note: First off, a disclaimer. I do not own Star Trek, and the theme song he's singing in this story is from Star Trek: The Next Generation._

_Second, there's going to be another troop that we forgot to add to the list of timelines, so I'm going to add him here. Craig Owens is going to make an appearance, and his timeline is going to take place sometime after "Closing Time."_

_And thirdly, my sister, who is co-writing this story with me, is making an account here on the site, so I can now give her credit by her username, PotsWithLids._

_P.S. After a ten minute heated argument with my sister over which Daleks' had which names, we realized that every time we mentioned Dalek Sek in this fic, we really meant Dalek Caan, so I had to go back and change the Dalek's name. So, the Master was not friends with Dalek Sek, he was friends with Dalek Caan. Sorry for the confusion,_

_PlushChrome._


	4. Chapter 3: Continuation of the Gathering

_Author's notes: Sorry this chapter took so long. My sister and I are both really bad at writing for Jenny, and I've been busy writing for my main muse, the Monkees. But, we've finally got it good enough, so here you have it! A few quick notes; I said in my last chapter that my sister is making an account. Well, she never did. For some reason, her email address never recieves verifcation emails. I tried to find out what happened, but she assures me that she has no idea what could have gone wrong. So, no PotsWithLids here. Second, we're creating an entire headcanon series that we will write up eventually, and as far as we've planned, this fic is Volume three in what we like to call the GTTniverse. The first two volumes, while considered prequals, don't actually need to be read first, which is good because we haven't written them yet._

_Anyway, enjoy chapter three of GTT!_

* * *

"Larry, calm down." Sally said to her fiancé over the phone as she looked at the giant spaceship above her.

"Calm down!?" Came the voice from the other end. "How am I supposed to calm down?! There's a spaceship in the sky and you're half way across town!"  
"Relax." Sally insisted, frowning as someone rushed by the window screaming. Really, one spaceship and everyone went into mass chaos. "You know the Doctor's out there somewhere working on it."

"Unless he's in 1969." Larry sighed worriedly.

"Really, do you see any angels around here?" Sally said exasperatedly.

"That doesn't mean there aren't any." Larry reminded her. "I'm on my way to the shop, just stay where you are."

"Where would I go?" Sally wondered. "Don't worry about it; I'm sure the Doctor has this handled. Still, be careful."

"I will." Larry assured her. "See you in five minutes."

Sally hung up the phone and looked out the shop window. The spaceship really was huge; it took up most of the London sky. Sally wondered where the Doctor was now, and what he was doing about this new threat and the strange new message that had come through the cell phone.

The door opened and Sally turned, smiling. There were four people who were coming in, looking around warily. Two men and two women, one with incredibly ginger hair.

"Welcome to Sparrow and Nightingale's." Sally said. "What can I get for-" With a jolt, she recognized one of the women, the dark haired one in the black jacket.

"Are you… Martha?" Sally asked the woman, who frowned in confusion.

"Yeah, I am. Have we met?" She said.

"Oh, no. I saw you on a DVD, with the Doctor. You were stuck in 1969." Sally reminded her. "I'm Sally Sparrow."

"Yeah, that was me." Martha smiled. "Thanks for the transcript by the way, it totally saved my life, and the Doctor's."

"So, you're Sally Sparrow." One of the men said, he was wearing what appeared to be an old army coat and had black messy hair. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness." He shook Sally's hand and smiled flatteringly.

"Jack." The other man warned. Jack turned to him and sighed.

"I'm just saying hello!" He said in exasperation. "And where do _you_ get off warning me, Mickey the idiot?"

The other man shrugged, apparently not taking offence at being called an idiot. "Someone had to say it." He said simply.

"What are you doing here?" Sally interrupted, turning back to Martha. "Where's the Doctor?"

"We need you." The red haired woman said. "The Doctor is making an army to fight the aliens that are in control of that big spaceship."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that." Sally said.

The door opened and everyone turned to see Larry, who stopped at the sight of the four strangers. His eyes rested on Martha and he gasped.

"Oh. My. Gosh." He said in shock. "It's Martha! Sally, it's Martha! She was with the Doctor!"

"Larry. Larry, calm down." Sally said, trying to sooth him.

"But – where's the Doctor?" Larry asked, looking around like he expected the man to jump out from behind a counter.

"He's gathering an army." Martha tried to explain. "That's why we need you two."

"Why us?" Sally questioned.

"We don't know." The red haired woman said, frowning as she pulled the list out of her pocket. "We just do what the Doctor says. He put you on the list of people to gather, so here we are. He sent a message, too."

"Really?" Sally asked. "What's the message?"

"He says 'New face. New man. Less plan. Need a favor' and wants you to call him for further instructions." The ginger girl said, taking a phone out of her pocket and tossing it to Sally. "Speed dial one."

Sally frowned and pressed the number. "New face?" She asked as she held the phone up to her ear and it rang. "What does that mean?"

"It's a long story." Mickey said. Sally nodded and as the Doctor picked up, she noticed Larry quietly ask a confused Martha to sign his T-shirt.

"You must be Sally, unless you're some random person that nobody knows was alive or could remember anything." A voice whispered from the other side of the phone.

Sally blinked in confusion, but then she shook her head and answered. "No, this is Sally. Is this the Doctor?"

"Yes, it is, although you probably don't recognize my voice. I don't have time to explain why right now."

"Why are you whispering?" Sally asked.

"So they won't hear me, of course! Are you daft!?" The Doctor sounded exasperated and tired. Sally decided not to point out that she could not have known that anyone was following him.

"…Right." She said. "Well, what do you want? I haven't heard from you since the Weeping Angels. Why contact me now?"

"Because I'm gathering the troops! I love saying that! And you're one of the best troops I ever could have asked for! Everyone else, they had experience and instruction. You just went with it! Without knowing anything at all! Brilliant! Oh, sorry, Rory, I'll be quiet."

The Doctor, who had been getting louder as he talked, lowered his voice to a whisper again.

"So, what's going on? Why are you gathering the troops?" Sally said, wondering what could be so scary about the flying spaceship.

"Because without troops, the world as you know it will end! Forget the Angels, Sally Sparrow. This is THE threat. The biggest threat you will ever have to face in your LIFE. This, Sally Sparrow, is the real deal."

"Okay, so, tell me what I'm not supposed to do. Can I blink? Can I breathe? Just give me some instruction." Everyone but Larry and Martha looked confused.

"Oh, Sally Sparrow!" The Doctor said happily. "This is why I counted you as a troop! You're ready to believe just about anything! Yes, you can breathe and blink and turn your back and look away. That doesn't matter. ...Because she couldn't blink before, Rory, duh. ...No it wasn't a clinical condition. Just shut up and stand guard… thank you. Anyway, Sally, what I need from you right now is to just stick with everyone else and await instructions. Is Larry with you?"

"Yes, of course he's with me Doctor, we're going to get married!" Sally told him.

"Figures." Jack muttered. Mickey elbowed him and Jack glared at him, it looked like the two might start arguing, but Martha stepped between them, giving them both disapproving gazes.

"Oh, another one?" The Doctor said. "Well, congratulations. But you need to stick with everyone else, specifically Martha and/or Mickey, because Amy should always stick with Jack so we want to even things out a bit. What _is_ it Rory!? Oh! Right! Well, in that case, RUN! I have to go, Sally, I'm being chased. Stick with Martha!"

The phone beeped, signaling that the call had ended and Sally looked at it in confusion.

"What did he say?" Amy asked her.

"Um, well he said that I should stick with Martha or Mickey at all times," Sally began, blinking in bewilderment. "And then he talked to somebody else for a little bit, and then he said 'run' and that he was being chased."

"He's not that different, is he?" Mickey said, chuckling.

"Next up would be Rose Tyler and the Doctor's other self." The redhead said. "How are you guys doing on that?" She turned to Jack, Martha, and Mickey.

"We've been working pretty hard, Amy." Jack said to the woman. "But it is going to take at least another day to complete it."

"Yeah, we were up all night, and it's still not done." Mickey inputted. "Dimensional stabilizers would be tricky to start with, let alone a dimensional _portal_ that will suck people from one side of the Void to the other."

"It's easier with the paradox here." Martha said. "We wouldn't be able to pull her through at all otherwise."

"One more day?" Amy sighed, glancing out the window worriedly. "We'd better get back on it, then."

"We?" Jack said, grinning at the redhead. "Because you're doing _so_ much."

"Oi," Amy said, glaring at the man warningly. "Who makes you your coffee and meals and keeps tabs on the world leaders and your Torchwood Team and UNIT to make sure that they don't try and blow up the ship or something while the Doctor is still there? And the Doctor put me in charge anyway; I can do what I want."

"Um, what is a dimensional portal?" Larry asked hesitantly.

"And who are you trying to bring here?" Sally inputted, trying to understand.

"Rose Tyler, former companion of the Doctor." Jack said. "And a duplicate of the tenth reincarnation of the Doctor,"

"Which is the one that _you_ know." Martha interrupted.

"They're in another dimension, and we need their help," Jack continued. "At least, we need the duplicate's help."

"I think Rose'll be pretty helpful." Mickey said, smiling as if remembering some sister that he had lost. "She was pretty good with guns when I last saw her. And we all know how much the Doctor appreciates that."

"Yeah right." Jack laughed sarcastically. "I only ever saw him pick up a gun once, and he honestly had no intention of using it."

"You saw him with a gun once?" Martha exclaimed in shock, as if it was something simply unheard of. "I did too, but someone that he cared about just died, and I think the only reason that he did it was to make a point!"

"Well, we both thought that someone had died then as well." Jack said, defending the Doctor's actions. "Rose, actually. And like I said, he probably had no intention of using it. He's not the guns type."

"The Doctor has a duplicate?" Sally asked in confusion.

"Yeah, it's complicated." Jack said, rolling his eyes. "I really don't want to get into the whole 'Regeneration, Doctor Donna, Metacrisis, hand' thing. Especially right now. We have too much stuff to do."

"Right…" Sally said, looking at Larry and then nodding in determination. If the Doctor needed her help, then she was ready.

Larry also nodded back at her, though he seemed very anxious. Sally nearly smiled at her cautious fiancé, standing around a group of the Doctor's friends and looking totally lost. But he was determined just like she was to help fight whatever was invading the earth, and that's what Sally loved about him.

"We'll help out." Sally told Amy, who grinned and checked off their names on the list.

"Back to base, then." Jack said. "We need to fix up that portal."

"Where's base?" Larry wondered as everyone started to go out the door.

"Uh, actually it's my apartment." Martha told him. "The TARDIS is outside, concealed so that the Tenissfuin can't find it, and we're working on the dimensional portal inside the apartment."

They walked for a while in silence, and Sally wondered what could be so bad that the Doctor needed an army to fight it.

"Who are we fighting, again?" Sally asked Martha, who turned and began addressing her and Larry.

"They're called the Tenissfuin." She said. "Not much else is known about them, but old legends painted them as beings of darkness, who ruled all long before earth's time."

"Said to be phantoms of ultimate evil." Jack interrupted, looking over his shoulder as he and Mickey lead the group across a street. "I heard the stories as a child, but I figured that they were just made to scare us kids. Turns out, I was wrong."

"The Doctor says that they ruled long before the Time Lords came to be." Amy said. "That they died in a great war, bigger then any war that we've ever suffered by far, and that the destruction of the Tenissfuin could've been what created our universe."

"I thought that you said they _ruled_ the universe." Larry said in confusion. "How can they rule something that isn't there yet?"

"I didn't say they ruled the _universe_," Amy said absently. "I just said they _ruled_. That's pretty much what the Doctor told me."

"I've never heard of them." Mickey said thoughtfully. "All my time in another dimension, you'd think they would at least know _something_ about it."

"Well, we didn't, how could they?" Martha said.

"The essence of what a Tenissfuin is might've also become the first Time Lord." Amy plowed on. Sally held up a hand to stop her.

"You keep mentioning Time Lords." She said in confusion. "Larry and I aren't quite following, what is a Time Lord?"

"That's what the Doctor is." Jack answered for Amy. "That's what his race is called, that's the type of being that he is."

"He's not… human?" Larry asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Farthest thing from it." Jack said as he laughed loudly. "No, he only looks like a human. He's one hundred percent alien. He even has a spaceship too."

"You mean that blue box?" Sally asked, remembering. "The police telephone box that has the whole world inside it?"

"Yeah, it's more like another dimension inside of the box." Jack said logically. "But it _is _his spaceship."

"I thought you said it was hard to access another dimension." Larry said, trying to keep up. He and Sally followed the four people into an apartment building and they began to go up the stairs.

"Other dimensions like the one I went to, yes." Mickey continued explaining. "That would be impossible except for the Paradox machine. But it's not exactly a completely separate _universe_, more like a gateway to a separate _space_."

"Held together by a dimensional stabilizer." Jack inputted. "Which we have copied to make _our_ dimensional stabilizer/portal. It's not completed yet though. The Doctor has a lot of alien tech that we don't have access to."

"Makes it hard to recreate, and add on to something so intricate." Martha said. "We really need to get it done, but it's going to take us a while to work around the lack of proper technology."

They reached a door and Mickey inserted a key into the lock and swung it open. The lights in the apartment were already on, and a large looking electronical device stood in the middle of a nicely furnished living room.

"Is that the dimension thing?" Larry asked, pointing at the device. But before anyone could answer him, a flash of blue light sparked and suddenly there was a girl standing in the middle of the room.

She had blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail, and blue grey eyes. She was wearing black fitted jeans, an army green tee shirt, and combat boots. She was also wearing something like a black leather bracelet on her wrist.

"Oh, alright." She said, blinking and looking around her. "This is…what? The two thousands?"

"Uh, who are you?" Mickey asked, frowning.

"Is that a vortex manipulator?" Amy asked the girl, cutting off Mickey.

"Hello," the girl said with a smile. "Yes, it is. Now, I'm not quite sure what happened. I was trying to get to the Aarons hotel, but apparently, I'm here instead."

"How did she get here?" Larry asked in confusion. "She wasn't here just a second ago."

"Oh, sorry." The blonde girl said with a smile. "It's a tad confusing, but this," She held out the wrist with the Vortex Manipulator on it. "This is called a Vortex Manipulator, as your friend just said. It allows me to travel in time and space, but it's bad for your health and can sometimes malfunction. Like now, I guess. It's complicated if you don't really understand the whole 'space travel' thing."

"The Vortex Manipulator brought you here?" Jack asked her with his eyebrows raised. "I guess we're emitting more energy then we realize."

"I'm sorry." Amy said. "But who are you?"

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but Martha cut her off. "Wait a minute." She said. "I know you. You're the Doctor's daughter!"

"What?" Amy said, narrowing her eyes at the blonde, who smiled.

"You're right, I am," She said. "Dear old dad. How is he?"

"Wait. The Doctor doesn't have a daughter," Amy said.

"He's fine," Martha said. "Well, I guess he's in a bit of trouble. And apparently, he regenerated."

"Oh, did he?" Jenny said. "What does he look like now?"

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him yet," Martha said.

"Hold on," Amy said, interrupting them and turning to the girl. "You're not the Doctor's daughter. The Doctor doesn't have a daughter."

"Well, he does now," the girl said with a smile. "I'm Jenny, what's your name?"

"But, you can't be the Doctor's daughter," Amy said. "It's impossible. He told me he was the last Time lord."

"He is," Jenny said. "So, where are we?" She looked around at the apartment.

"You're in my house," Martha said. "We're trying to build a dimensional stabilizer so we can open a portal to another dimension."

"I see," Jenny said, examining the stabilizer. "Might I ask why? This sort of thing is usually impossible and discouraged."

"Yeah, I know," Jack said. "But the Doctor asked us to build it so we can bring in a few friends to help with the Tenissfuin."

"The what?" Jenny asked.

"Oh, here, come check this out," Martha said, leading the way to the front door. "This just showed up in the sky this morning."

"Wow," Jenny said, looking up at the large ship. "So that's the enemy, then?"

"Yep," Jack said. "Right now, the Doctor's up trying to distract them while we gather an army."

"An army?" Jenny asked, raising her eyebrows. "Doesn't seem much like his thing, with all that bashing he did about mine."

"He's a new man now," Mickey said. "Maybe he doesn't feel that way anymore."

"Besides, with a threat like this one, there isn't really any other option," Jack said. "Hey, since you're here, maybe you can help us figure out this dimensional stabilizer. I mean, with you being the Doctor's daughter, and all."

"But she's not his daughter!" Amy insisted. "I've known the Doctor on and off for ten years! He would have mentioned her to me!"

"Amy, she really is his daughter," Martha said.

"If you don't believe me, call him up and ask," Jenny said. "He'll tell you."

Amy looked at her. "Alright," she said, pulling out her cell phone and dialing Rory's cell. After a few rings, it was picked up.

"I don't know which one you are, but I'm rather busy right now. GET DOWN!" The Doctor yelled from the other end of the phone.

"What was that?" Amy asked, momentarily forgetting about Jenny. The Doctor sighed on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, it was nothing. Amy, what are you calling for?"

"Well, there's this girl here, she says she knows you."

"Alright. Yes. Ooh! That was close! This way, Rory! What's her name, Amy?"

Amy looked at the blonde girl suspiciously. "She said her name was Jenny, and that she's your daughter."

"Oh, Jenny! How very nice! Good, I think we lost them. Follow me, there must be another way out of here. Amy? Where was I? Oh yes, splendid! Jenny! How do you like her, Amy? I always liked her, I-"

Suddenly, the Doctor got very quiet. He must have stopped running, because Amy could hear the sound of Rory running into him. "Doctor?" He said, his voice coming in faintly over the phone.

"Amy…" The Doctor said quietly. "What did you just say? Shh, Rory, this is important."

Amy leaned against the wall and frowned. "You heard me," She said. "I said that a girl named Jenny was here, and she said she was your daughter. Now, tell me, is there any truth in what she's saying?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. Then the Doctor spoke up. "Yes," he said finally.

Amy blinked. "Yes!?" She said angrily. "What do you mean yes!? You never told me you had a daughter!"

"Well, it's complicated, Amy, I-" "Complicated!" Amy yelled. "I am your mother-in-law-" Amy stopped suddenly. That was something she'd never thought she would say. Around her, Jack, Martha and Mickey all raised their eyebrows. "Oh boy," Jenny said. "Dad got married then? That'll be interesting.

Amy sighed, trying again. "What I meant was, you had better tell me about Jenny right now!"

"Alright, fine!" The Doctor said. "Rory, you'd better listen to this too. I was traveling with Donna, and we ran into a group of people who used a skin sample off my hand to create a fully-grown human being out of my DNA. That human being was Jenny. So yes, she is my daughter. But then she died."

"Died?" Amy asked. "What do you mean died? She's right here."

In the background, she could hear Rory asking "Did she like, regenerate or something?"

"No, no she didn't regenerate," The Doctor said. "Apparently, she didn't have the power."

"Well, apparently, she did." Amy said. "She's standing right in front of me."

The Doctor sighed. "I don't know how she did it. But she was dead the last time I saw her."

Amy looked at the girl. "He says you died," She said bluntly. Jenny smiled. "I did," she said. "But then, I woke up. It was pretty strange. Since then, I've been exploring the stars in a space shuttle I stole."

After a moment, Amy laughed. This was definitely the Doctor's daughter.

"Doctor?" She said into the phone. "If you say she's your daughter, than I believe you." Then a thought struck her. "So, what does that make her, then?" She asked. "My granddaughter?"

"Oh, that's just weird," The Doctor said. "I- I guess, if you think about it in technical terms, then yes. She's your granddaughter. You hear that, Rory? You have a granddaughter."

Amy could only imagine what Rory was doing on the other end of the phone. Knowing her husband, he was probably just standing there, taking the news in stride, as calm as he ever was, but completely shocked at the same time.

"Well, Ponds, aren't you going to wish me congratulations?"

Amy chuckled at the Doctor's words. Before she could say anything, however, the Doctor interrupted- himself.

"They've found us?" He asked. "Oh! Right then, um, this way! Bye, Amy!" With that, he hung up.

"Well," Amy said, turning to Jenny. "Apparently, you're telling the truth. And yes, I am your grandmother now."

Jenny grinned. "Well then," she said."It's nice to meet you, Grams. Now, let's see what's up with this dimensional stabilizer."


	5. Chapter 4: Yeah, Still Gathering

_Author's Notes: First off, I'd like to say RIP to our family computer, Leroy, who gave all he could until he simply couldn't give any more. And I would like to welcome the newest member of our team, Mitchell, who is all too eager to get started taking Leroy's place as the family compy. He's having a little trouble getting off on the right foot, but hey, he's a newbie. He'll figure us out eventually._

_Also, I just want to say you know you're a sci-fi writer when you're indignant that the Word Dictionary doesn't have words such as "interdimensional stabilizer" and you need to add it manually. Interdimensional stabilizer is totally a word._

_And finally, I know there's been some confusion about my sister's account. She made a new e-mail address, and now she has an account. Her username is JoAmazing. She will also be writing lots of Doctor Who, but we'll try to keep the GTTniverse all on one account, but I will credit her in every story._

* * *

Jack stood up and took a step back, looking at their handwork. "That should just about do it," he said.

"Alright then," Jenny said, also backing up and looking at the Dimension Stabilizer. "Let's fire this baby up."

They proceeded to "Fire that baby up," and after a moment of whirring and flashing lights, there was a brighter flash and suddenly, two more people were standing in the room with them.

"Right," The man said, looking around. "What's... how... Jack?"

"Hello, Doctor," Jack said, grinning. "Long time no see, huh? Heard you got deported to another dimension, to babysit Rose Tyler over here."

The girl, who had long blonde hair and brown eyes, scoffed, and taking a step forward, punched Jack playfully on the shoulder.

"As if," She said. "He's the one needing babysitting. He keeps trying to save the planet, forget that he's human now, and fragile. He got in a fist-fight with a Sontaran, broke his wrist. We had to go the hospital!"

"Now, hold on a minute," The man said, frowning around at everyone. "What's going on? One minute, we're in Pete's world, minding our own business, and the next we're standing around in... an apartment?" He looked around, momentarily distracted.

"Yeah, it's ours," Martha said. "Mickey's and mine. We're married now."

"Oh, really!?" The man said, grinning. "Congratulations, I always knew it could work out. Well, I thought it might. Well, I- Wait a minute! One minute we're in Pete's world and the next we're in your apartment, next to a dimensional stabilizer that really..." he trailed off and looked at the stabilizer. "Shouldn't work, surrounded by you lot and- Jenny!? How are we even here? It should be impossible! And you!" He turned to Rose, who looked confused. "Why are you taking this so lightly?"

Rose shrugged. "I figure, marrying the Doctor, stuff like this would happen every day."

"Wait," Amy said worriedly. "Married? You're married?"

The Doctor looked at her. "Yes," He said. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. What's your name?"

"Amy Pond," Amy said. "I'm your companion, except, from the future. Your next regeneration or something. And you're not married. At least, not to her. You _are_ married, to my daughter. From the future. It's complicated. So, if you're from another dimension-"

"Not from it," The Doctor said. "I got trapped. I'm from here."

"But that doesn't make any sense," Amy said. "If you're from the past, at least, from my Doctor's past, then how could you be trapped _and_ married?"

"That's the thing, I'm not the Doctor. Well, I am the Doctor, but not the real one. I'm a clone. A metacrisis, really, I'm..." (Here he sniffed.) "Mostly human. The DoctorDonna, t's'what I am. I go by John Smith, nice to meet you," He said, grinning and holding out his hand. Amy shook it.

"So the real Doctor's marriage is safe?" She asked, quirking her eyebrows, teasing this new Doctor, John Smith.

"Yes," John said. "At least, I assume so. I don't know. I've never met "You're Doctor," or his good lady. But you don't have to worry about getting any trouble from me. Now, Jack, how did you get us here? You're smart, and I see you've got Jenny, how on earth is she still alive, by the way!? But you're not smart enough to have built an interdimensional stabilizer that has the energy and power to transport two people across the void without our coordinates and biopatterns."

"Well, the paradox machine hovering over London had a big part in it," Jack admitted. "Plus, Jenny had some spare tech she didn't need. It was all pretty easy after that."

"Paradox machine?" John said with a frown. "What paradox machine?" With that, he ran to the window and leaned out, looking up at the sky.

"John, be careful," Rose pleaded. "I swear," she said, turning to Jack. "It's like taking care of a two year old!"

Jack smirked. "Tell me about it," he said.

"What on earth is that!?" John said. "It's like nothing I've ever seen!"

"To be honest," Amy said. "The Doctor thinks it might be some old legend called the Tenissfuin."

"No," John said, turning around and looking at her. "No, it can't be possible. That was just a legend, nothing more."

"Well, legend or not, this is a real threat," Mickey spoke up. "They took over all the phones, the radios, the telly... said they were gonna consume everyone."

"Consume, you mean like, eat them?" John asked.

Martha nodded. "Yep," she said. "So the Doctor sent Amy here to gather an army to fight them while he distracts them. He gave her a list, and you were both on it. Now that we've got you, you're supposed to call Amy's husband's cell-phone and check in."

"Ooh, the future Doctor," John said, enunciating every syllable as if her were tasting how the words sounded. "You hear that, Rose?" he said, turning and smiling at her. "We're gonna see what I would've looked like if we had gone on with life in the TARDIS."

Rose smiled back. "I can't wait," she said. "I'm not gonna lie, I've missed this. On to the next adventure!"

"Don't look back, don't stop running," John said, pulling out his cell-phone. "Alright, Amy," he said. "What's the number?"

Amy gave him the number and John waited patiently as it rang. A quiet beep signified that the call had been picked up.

"Gah!" A voice from the other end exclaimed as way of a greeting. "Hello, which one is this? LOOK OUT!"

"Doctor?" John said. "You alright?"

"What? Yes, I'm fine! I'm just a bit preoccupied at the moment. Rory, press that button! No, that one! Yes. Anyway, I take it by your voice that I'm speaking to The DoctorDonna?"

"Yes, John Smith at your service, and Rose is here too."

"Rose! Tell her I said hello, but that I'm changed again. Ahh! Quick, through that door!"

"Doctor," John said. "I must tell you, this plan is extremely risky. I hope you've thought it all through."

"Of course I've thought it through, I have a plan! Well, not really. I'm just improvising. Oh, be quiet, Rory, you're perfectly safe with me. BEHIND YOU!"

What sounded like multiple laser shots came muffled through the phone speaker, and John Smith frowned.

After a second, the Doctor came back to the phone. "To be honest, John, Oh, I like the sound of that, 'John', nice and- Anyway! That's part of the reason I called you. I need you to meet up with a few other… companions… that are on their way, and then I'm counting on the three of you to help come up with a plan."

"Well then, anything I can do to help," John said. "Who are these companions?"

"Well, they're actually unexpected reinforcements. The Master's back and he fixed Donna. The two of them should be looking for you now."

"What?" John said. "I thought he was dead."

"Well, he came back," Said the Doctor. "And then he died, saving my life. And then he came back again, and fixed Donna by using one of his regenerations. So, I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. RORY!"

After a few moments of what was obviously running, the Doctor returned. "Alright, we should be safe here, for the time being. Are you alright? …Well, you're a nurse! Deal with it! …This is a stressful time for me, Rory! It can't _always_ be about you!"

"Doctor?" John said. His new regeneration seemed to have a hard time focusing.

"Oh, right! I told the Master to look for Martha. Have you met up with her yet?"

"Yes, I have. She, Jack, and Mickey worked to bring us here."

"Excellent! He'll be arriving as soon as he figures out where you are. Tell them all to trust him, tell them that he changed sides at the last minute, and he's going to do everything in his power to help us. Got it?"

"Got it," John said.

The Doctor sighed. "Rory, calm down, it's not bleeding that badly! Stop being a sissy. John, tell Amy that Rory is losing his hair with worry. Can you put her on the phone?"

John nodded and handed the phone to Amy. "The Doctor wants to speak with you," he said. "Something about someone named Rory, losing their hair."

Amy nodded and took the phone. "Hello?" She said.

"Amy! Good to hear from you!" The Doctor's voice came in through the other end, and Amy could tell just by the sound of it that he was smiling. "...Yes, Rory, now hold still, you'll get your turn! Amy, I want you to tell your husband to calm down and trust me. Because the only way he's getting out of this alive is if he does _exactly_ what I say. ...Oh, there was always a chance you would die, Rory! It's not exactly something you've avoided before, now, is it? …Fine. Amy, tell him!"

Then Rory came on the line. "Amy!?" He said.

Amy smiled. "Hello, stupid face," she said. "Calm down! The Doctor knows what he's doing. Usually. You're perfectly safe."

"No." Rory said, beginning to stutter, like he usually did when he was stressed out or nervous. "No, he's- insane, Amy! I- I mean, I always knew it before, but he's really, really gone mad this time. Ouch! What was that for!? …Well, you are! D-do you know how long we've been running, Amy? And he keeps shouting at them where we are! I knew we were a distraction, but I can barely catch my breath before we're off again! Oh, oh, yes. Goodbye, Amy! I love you! If the Doctor gets me killed, _again_, remember me this time!"

"You're not going to die, idiot! I was _joking!_ Seriously!" The Doctor's voice said, coming into focus as he took the phone. "Yes, Amy, where was I? Oh yes! Can you give me back to John?"

"Alright," Amy said. "And Doctor? I'm warning you, Rory had better be in one piece when all this is over. I trust you completely. So DON'T fail me. Got it?" The Doctor gulped. "Got it," He said, a slight tremble in his voice as he realized (rightly) who was the boss. Amy chuckled. "I'll talk to you later, Doctor!" She said, handing the phone back to John.

John picked up the phone and cleared his throat. "Doctor? " He said. "I'm back." "Great!" The Doctor said. "Just a recap: Donna and The Master are on their way, and I trust them! Now then, Rory and I have something we need to do. No we can't stay here, Rory. …Well, they'd find us eventually anyway! John, it was nice talking to you, take care of that business I told you about. Good luck!"

"So, that's everyone but River." Amy said as John hung up the phone.

"Not quite everyone." He told her.

"But the only other name on here is River Song." She told him, showing him the list that the Doctor had given her.

"The Doctor just told me about someone else who is trying to find us." John said, looking at everyone. "Jack, Martha, I need you to listen to me."

Martha nodded; already ready to accept whatever he was going to say. Jack looked at John curiously.

"There are some unexpected reinforcements coming in, that some of you might have trouble getting along with." John said. "Donna Noble."

"Donna Noble?" Jack asked. "Isn't she the Doctor's old companion?"

"Why wouldn't we get along with her?" Jenny said, gazing at John in confusion. "She's brilliant, and she's Dad's friend."

"It's who's with Donna, that's the problem." John told them, grimacing a bit as everyone looked even more confused. "You won't like this. It's… the Master."

"The Master?!" Martha said, raising her eyebrows.

"You can't be serious!" Jack exclaimed. "That sick maniac is the last person we want helping us. What if he turns on us and takes over again!?"

"He's got the Doctor's okay." John assured him, putting his hands in his pockets. "It won't be like the last time. He fixed Donna, and he wants to help."

"That's insane! The Master is evil!" Martha protested as she put her hands on her hips and glared. "The Doctor _can't_ let him help."

"Um, who's the Master?" Amy asked. "I've never even heard of him."

"Yeah, me neither." Rose said. Nearly everyone in the room looked just as confused as she and Amy were.

"Lucky you." Jack muttered, glaring at the floor.

"The Master is a Time Lord with… a rather troubled life." John told them, ignoring Jack's scoff.

"But… there are no more Time Lords." Amy pointed out. "The Doctor told me."

"That's because he was dead." John told her. "And then, apparently, he came back. And then died, and then came back again. The Doctor trusts him and so do I."

"But – you know what he did." Jack protested. "During the year that I'll never forget. He tortured the Doctor. He killed me almost every day, twice a day. He burned Japan!"

"I've been to Japan, it's not burned." Amy said, looking at Jack like he was crazy.

"He captured my family and turned them into slaves!" Martha cut in, ignoring Amy.

"I know." John said. "Believe me, I know. And the Doctor knows. He went through just as much as you two did; he knows what you've been through. But we _need_ the help. "

"But Japan's still there." Amy interrupted. "Am I the only one who cares about this? What you're saying doesn't make sense. What year was that?"

"An entire year, wiped from the memory of every living thing on earth." John told her. "The year that never existed except for a handful of people who suffered at the hands of a madman."

"And that madman… he's the one that you're all talking about?" Jenny asked in bewilderment. "If he captured people and burned an entire country, if he tortured the Doctor, then why would we let him help us?"

"He's brilliant." John said, grinning a bit.

"He's insane!" Jack cut in. "I mean really, _really,_ insane. Like, he needs to be put in a padded room, in a strait jacket, for the rest of his very long, Time Lord, life."

"He wants to help us." John said, frowning at Jack. "He's on our side now. There will be no torturing or burning. The Doctor says that he trusts him. And if you trust the Doctor, then you should trust his judgment. Even concerning the Master."

"That was beautiful, really." The Master's voice sounded as the man himself walked through the door of the TARDIS, holding a TARDIS key and followed by Donna. "I'm infinitely touched."

"Speak of the devil," Jack said, glaring at the Master angrily. "And the devil will appear."

"It's nice to know that you remember me." Smirked the Master. "For those of you who don't, I'm the Master. This is Donna."

"We know about her." Jenny told him.

"I don't." Amy said, finding all this new information a lot to take in. "She wasn't on the list. Donna who?"

"Donna Temple." Donna introduced herself as she smiled at the people in the room. "Former companion of the Doctor." She spotted Jenny and gasped. "Jenny! Oh my gosh, you're alive!"

"Yep, I am." Jenny smiled. "It was easy, really, I just came back."

"Does your father know about this?" Donna asked eagerly, starting toward her. Jenny nodded her head but the Master interrupted her before she could answer properly.

"Anyway, that's all very touching and everything." He said, walking to the main console and grinning at the controls. "I haven't seen you in a while." He said, evidently talking to the TARDIS.

"What do you want?" Jack snapped at him.

"Oh, the Freak has an attitude problem, I forgot." The Master sighed as he ran a hand over the controls. "I already told your new Doctor on the phone, I'm trying to help. So simmer down."

"Yeah, well maybe I don't completely believe you," Jack snapped. "Why don't you prove it?"

The Master rolled his eyes. "And how am I supposed to do that?" He asked. Jack shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "But prove it."

The Master looked around at everybody, before sighing.

"Let me think," he said sarcastically. "First off, if I was still evil, I wouldn't have used one of my regenerations to bring back Donna's memory. Second, I would have tried to blow up the TARDIS with all of you inside, instead of calling ahead of time to warn you that I was coming. And thirdly," The Master smiled at Jack. "I would have killed you once already. It's such great fun." Jack glared, but didn't say anything. The Master looked around at everybody. "Well then, any other objections?"

Amy frowned. "Objections?" She said. "Nobody made any objections." The Master grinned. "Well, look who was paying attention! And who are you? I don't remember you from either of my visits, so either you're new or you're old."

"I'm one of the Eleventh Doctor's companions, if that's what you mean," Amy said. "I'm Amy Pond. Well, Williams, actually, but I like Pond better."

"Ah," The Master said, nodding in understanding. "Married?" Amy nodded. She didn't see what everybody's deal was, sure the Master was a bit strange, but the Doctor trusted him. Although, he did give her a weird feeling, like she'd forgotten something important.

"Also, I don't know… most of you." He squinted around the room. "That's really weird, because I've been around. I'm guessing that you're Rose Tyler." He pointed at Rose.

"Yeah, yeah I am." She responded, looking on edge. The Master nodded.

"That's what I thought." He said. "But the rest of you, I haven't seen before. Not that I care about any of you, I just want to get my faces right so that I don't accidentally kill you in the thick of battle."

"Who said anything about battle?" Sally interrupted him.

"Oh, you're such a stupid lot," The Master sighed in exasperation. "Of course there's going to be a battle. I talked to Dalek Caan, fascinating Dalek, by the way, and completely mad as well. Anyway, back to my point, I talked to him and he told me 'The battle will come'. _The_ battle, not _a_ battle."

"Is that how you knew about it?" Amy asked him, totally confused.

The Master blinked. "Know? I don't know about what's going on. I just know that something is, and that I'm needed here. That was another thing Dalek Caan told me. The crazy old thing." The Master smiled and shook his head, gazing at the floor as if he were remembering an old friend he hadn't seen in a while.

"Wait a minute," Amy said. "I didn't know the Daleks had names." "Well, most don't," John explained. "But there were a few, some of the more important ones were given titles." Amy nodded. "Then… who is Dalek Caan," She asked. "And why is he important?"

Jack sighed. "Dalek Caan is a Dalek who fell into the Time Vortex and saw all of space and time inside. He went insane with it, and became a sort of Dalek fortune-teller."

"Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!" The Master said. "Dalek Caan fell into the _Void,_ not the Time Vortex. There's a difference. Although, that's probably what he told everybody later. But you were right about it driving him mad, the poor thing. The Void could drive just about anybody mad." He said. "But it was so amusing to see a mad fortune telling Dalek that I took him with me, kept him around."

"Wait, you were in the Void?" Jack asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, I was!" The Master said. "Didn't your Doctor tell you? I know I mentioned it on the phone…"

"No, he didn't say anything about you being in the Void," Rose said. "I thought nobody could escape the Void, that once you fell in, you were stuck, forever, in unending torment, unable to die."

"Thank you for the wonderful description," The Master said, sending a glare at Rose. "But yes, there is really truly no way out."

Everyone looked at him. "Then… how are you here?" Jack prompted. "What?" The Master said, looking at him. "Oh, right! Well, and here's the curious thing, I'm still not entirely sure what happened myself. I was just sort of floating about, looking for something else to blow up after the whole "War on the Daleks" fiasco, and suddenly, there was a huge crack in the sky."

"I'm sorry, a crack in the sky?" Mickey asked.

The Master nodded. "Yes, that's what I thought. And then it started glowing, and it lit up. So naturally, we went to go see what it was. As soon as the light touched me, I woke up out here, with a huge paradox machine right over my head! Oh, it was glorious!"

"How is that glorious?" Amy asked him, finding this man even more complex than she had first suspected. Although his description of a glowing crack in the sky was very worrisome.

"Yes, glorious!" The Master said. "Imagine being stuck in the Void with nothing to do but destroy everything else, completely alone except for one mad fortune telling Dalek as your only companion! It's so boring! And then to get out and run right smack in the middle of a Tenissfuin Paradox machine hovering over London? Oh, yes, it was certainly glorious!"

He smiled and sighed at the memory, and then looked back up at them, his smile turning into a confused frown. "And then I thought to myself, am I really going to be a good guy? The idea disgusted me at first, but then I realized it held a sort of… charm. It was something I hadn't tried yet. Well, I did, but it only lasted for a few seconds and then I was almost trapped on a time-locked exploding planet with a bunch of thousand-year-old angry higher-ups all trying to kill me in cold, hard, revenge."

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second," Martha said. "How did you get from Paradox machine to good guy? I think you left something out."

"Oh, pay attention, Jones!" The Master said. "Dalek Caan told me lots of stuff before we were separated, remember? He told me that if I wanted to live, I had to fight the Tenissfuin! Besides, it's only logical! As if a Tenissfuin would let a Time Lord live anyway." He rolled his eyes.

"Actually," Martha said. "It's Smith, not Jones." The Master stopped in his tracks and turned around, staring at Martha. "No," he said. "I remember very clearly, it's Jones."

"Yeah, but then I got married!" Martha said. The Master waved a hand at her as if he were trying to shoo her away. "Oh," he said, turning back to his pacing. "That doesn't count."

"Yeah, it does." Mickey said defensively. "The name always changes, you can't just call her Jones when she's a Smith."

"I can call anyone anything, you… gosh what do I call you? Mr. British, random, way too defensive of his last name, Smith, kid, person?"

"It's Mickey." Mickey told him.

"Mickey, but that's so stupid!" The Master groaned. "How about I call you Rickey instead, it sounds cooler."

"That's what I used to call him." John informed that Master.

Mickey snorted. "Yeah, I've been there done that." He told him.

"Mickey Mouse then?" The Master inquired, squinting as he thought.

"Nope, the Doctor called him that too." Rose smirked.

"Ahh," The Master sighed. "My first one was better anyway, how about MBRWTDOHLNSKP!"

"What?" Amy asked him, thinking that she hadn't heard right.

"Mib-er-wit-doe-lin-skip." The Master pronounced every syllable clearly. "It's an acronym of Mr. British, random, way too defensive of his last name, Smith, kid, person."

"Too long." Donna stated, looking like she was actually thinking about it. The Master nodded.

"But yes. I can call her Jones even when it's Smith." He said, inspecting his nails, evidently bored with the conversation.

"That's what the Doctor does to me." Amy told them. "He calls me Pond even though I'm married now."

"So, it's official?" Martha tried to figure out, speaking to the Master. "You're helping us fight the Tenissfuin?"

The Master thought about it for a second. "Yes." He said finally. "But don't read too much into it. It's not like this is going to be an every day occurrence."

"We won't hold our breath." Jack rolled his eyes. The Master considered that.

"I never killed you by making you hold your breath!" He exclaimed suddenly. "I never even thought of it. Though, in retrospect, it probably wouldn't have been as painful as I would've liked."

"How many times did you kill him?" Amy asked.

"Exactly seven hundred forty eight and a half times exactly." The Master told her. "But who's keeping track?"

"How do you kill someone half way?" Jenny inquired.

"Don't talk about it." Jack said, glaring at the floor and trying not to remember.

The Master started laughing and then held his side. "Nope, no laughing." He reminded himself. "It was fun while it lasted but…" He took a calming breath. "Good guy now."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Martha said. The Master sighed and stretched out his arms. "Bask in the good guy glory." He told her.


	6. Chapter 5: Nope, Not Done Gathering

_Author's note: Okay, we've figured it out! This story is number 4 in our GTTniverse, but the first three are just prequals, so they don't need to be read first, which is good because 2 and 3 haven't been written yet, and 1 only has one chapter posted so far._

* * *

"Okay, what's happening!?" The Doctor yelled to his TARDIS, rushing to the other side of the steaming console and throwing a few levers. "Come on, old girl, what's the matter?" With a bang, the TARDIS seemed to have hit a rough spot in the Time Vortex and The Doctor was thrown up against one of the tall bronze beams that decorated the inside of his TARDIS.

"Oh, that smarts!" He said, sitting up and looking back at the console. He glanced behind him, half expecting… no, half hoping for someone to be there, but he was, like always, alone. Now he didn't have an excuse to audibly question the TARDIS's strange behavior. Oh well, not like there was anyone there to care if he talked to himself.

"I'm not sure what's wrong," he said. "The TARDIS just sort of… started throwing a fit! I have no idea what's going on!"

He made his way back to the console, but before he could do anything, he was thrown to the floor as the TARDIS bumped and grinded and finally crashed to a stop. Everything got quiet and the Doctor slowly stood up.

He went to the computer and pulled it up, running his hand through his hair. "Alright," he said. "Where are we?" He typed in a few instructions and groaned as the computer showed nothing at all.

"Well," he said quietly. "Guess I'm gonna have to go figure out where I am on my own."

With that, he walked over to the TARDIS door, grabbed his brown full length overcoat, and stepped through the door.

"All right," He said, looking around him. "Definitely in London, seems to be, mmm," He bounced up and down a little, breathed in the air, licked his finger and held it in the breeze. "2013," he decided.

"Crowds of screaming people, so something is definitely… off." He looked around at the people. They definitely were all freaking out, but none of them seemed to be running. Maybe they didn't think they could run _to_ anywhere?

Several of them were sending worried glances up to the sky. Now that he thought about it, it was pretty dark. Judging by his earlier estimations, it shouldn't be too much past 2 in the afternoon.

Looking up, he grinned. "Oh, now we're talking!" He said, pulling out his Sonic Screwdriver and pointing it at the enormous spaceship hovering over the entire city. Really, he wasn't sure how he'd missed it at first.

He scanned the ship with his screwdriver and looked at the results. "Oh, you are a beauty!" He said. "Ancient technology, but advanced. Oh, and what's this?" He frowned as he puzzled over the strange readings.

"I don't know where you came from," he said quietly, looking back up at the ship. "Old language, really, very old. I can only make out a few words, and that's saying something. But it almost looks Gallifreyan! No, that can't be right… Hello!" He said, as one particular word caught his eye. "Oh, so you're a Paradox machine!" He grinned.

"So, we've got an impossibly ancient, impossibly advanced, really, really big Paradox machine hovering over London." He sighed. "Obviously, you're not up to anything good."

With that, he turned to go back to the TARDIS and try to figure out some sort of plan, but he paused at the door. There was something wrong here, he could tell. He closed the door and turned back to the street. Putting his hands in his pockets, he started to walk down the street slowly.

He didn't know what it was, but there was definitely something wrong around here. It felt… like something had been tampered with, there was a fixed time point wandering about London.

Right when he recognized the feeling, he recognized the man. Way down the street, he could see the familiar World War Two army jacket belonging to the only fixed point in time that the Doctor knew personally. He was walking away, talking to a woman that could only be described as very, very ginger.

"Jack!" He yelled running up to him. "Oh, I knew you'd be around, what with this hanging over our heads. And who's this?" He asked, turning to the red head. "One of your Torchwood crew I assume?"

Jack looked stunned while the girl looked confused. "John?" she asked. "What are you talking about, I'm Amy, we met, remember?"

The Doctor frowned. "What?" He asked. "No, I'm not… John, I'm the Doctor."

"No, you're John," The girl said. "We just talked to you ten minutes ago. Tell him, Jack."

"Doctor?" Jack said, finding his voice.

"Doctor!?" The girl asked, looking at Jack.

"Yes, Doctor!" The Doctor said. "Although, if you've met a man who looks exactly like me and called himself John, I'm betting that was me, too. I go by that name quite often."

"No, Doctor, it wasn't you," Jack said. "That was the other you, the metacrisis you."

"What!?" The Doctor asked, frowning. "What's he doing here!?"

"I brought him here, along with Rose" Jack said. "Martha and Mickey helped."

"Jack, why'd you go and do a thing like that for?" The Doctor said. "You know how dangerous it is to open doors between alternate universes! It should be impossible completely, but oh, right, paradox machine."

"Yeah," Jack said. "But you told me too." The Doctor raised his eyebrows and pointed to himself. Jack laughed. "Yeah, you gave the order," he said. "Paradox machine, remember?"

The Doctor looked up. "Right," he said. "Future me's. So that would make Amy one of my future companions, am I correct?" Amy nodded, looking a bit weirded out as she shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Amy!" The Doctor said, grinning. "Well, nice to meet you again. Well, again for you, first time for me."

"So what are you doing here?" Jack asked. "The Doctor didn't write your name on the list."

"List? What list?" The Doctor asked.

"This one right here," Amy answered, pulling a piece of paper from her jacket pocket. The Doctor took it and unfolded it, reading the list of names.

"Jack, Martha and Mickey, Sally Sparrow- Oh, Sally Sparrow! I see more of her, then. Nice. Larry Nightingale, now, who's that? Oh, right, the one who knows shorthand… Rose Tyler and the other me, Oh, so that's what you meant by John… and River Song."

He frowned down at the last name, not sure how he felt about the woman who knew him first.

"And you have this list because…" He said, handing it back to Amy.

She took it and smiled slightly. "I'm gathering the troops," she said. "Getting an army together of everyone the Doctor trusts, so we can fight the Tenissfuin."

"The Teniss…" The Doctor trailed off in shock, jumping and running his hand through his hair. "Oh, of course! That explains the readings! The language, the technology, everything! But I thought they were just a legend! They can't be real! They just can't be! How is this even possible!? Oh, this is bad! So, very, very bad! I don't even know-"

Amy, now looking rather scared, suddenly stepped forward and slapped the Doctor. "Ow!" He said, looking at her in confusion. "What was that for!?"

"I wanted you to shut up," Amy said. "It worked."

She smirked and Jack gave a slight chuckle before turning to the Doctor with a smile. "Well, things are looking a lot better now," he said. "It's always nice to get unexpected reinforcements. Well, usually."

"What do you mean?" The Doctor said. "Who else showed up?"

"Well," Amy said, pointing at the list. "Other than these people, we've also got Jenny the Doctor's daughter-"

"Jenny!?" The Doctor interrupted. "But… she's dead, I watched her die myself!"

"First off, we've already been through this with _my_ Doctor," Amy said. "She's still alive, she just sort of- woke up after you left and she's been traveling through space in a stolen space shuttle."

The Doctor grinned, Jenny seemed to have taken more from him than his simple DNA pattern. Amy was still talking. "Second," she said. "Why didn't you tell me you had a daughter, even if she was dead? I'm your best friend; we're supposed to tell each other these things!"

The Doctor was at a loss for words. "Sorry," he said. "I- I don't know why I didn't tell you, really I don't. I haven't met you yet, except for right now, of course…"

"Well, you still ought to have told me, I'm your mother-in-law!"

The Doctor choked. "You're- um, What!?"

"You heard me," Amy said defensively. "That's not how I planned it either, but there's no rewriting things now."

"How old are you!?" The Doctor asked without thinking.

Amy's eyes flashed dangerously. "Listen, Raggedy Man," She said, much to the Doctor's confusion. "Just a tip for the future: It's never wise to ask a woman her age."

The Doctor looked helplessly over at Jack, who was watching the whole scene with amusement. Jack shrugged and the Doctor turned back to Amy. "Right, then," he said. "Back to the list?"

Amy raised her eyebrows, but went back to the list. "We've also got the Master and Donna."

Now the Doctor was completely speechless. He glanced at Jack again, who was watching his reaction. "Yeah, that's how I felt," he said. "Please tell me you agree that we shouldn't trust the Master."

"How on earth did Donna get here!?" The Doctor said.

Amy shrugged. "I didn't quite understand that part," she said. "The Master said something about a metacrisis, and then he said he fixed it with regeneration energy."

"Oh, of course!" The Doctor said. "Use a regeneration to keep her alive, it balances out the metacrisis! Why didn't I think of that!? But wait, I thought the Master was dead."

"He was," Jack said. "But apparently, he came back, died again, and then came back a third time."

"Oh, it's not the third time," The Doctor said absently. "He's come back more times than any other Time Lord in existence. He's harder to get rid of than you, Jack."

Jack snorted. "Somehow, I doubt that," he said. "But I could test that out, see if it's true. We could do forty paces or something, whoever comes back to life first wins."

"Oh, please, I could do without the sarcasm," the Doctor said. "What made the Master change to our side?"

"No one's really sure," Amy said. "He says that it's the only logical solution, whatever that means."

"So let me get this straight," The Doctor said. "Your Doctor writes a list of troops to gather including two people from another dimension, and he didn't think to invite me? What, did he think I wouldn't want to help!?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?" Amy said, pulling a cell phone out of her pocket and tossing it to the Doctor. Catching it, he looked up at her. "I have a quick, irrelevant question," he said. "My new regeneration, your Doctor, am I… ginger?"

Amy frowned. "No," she said. "Now call him! We're rather busy!" "Right…" The Doctor said, turning his attention to the phone.

He dialed the number angrily, pacing as it rang. As soon as it clicked on, he began talking quickly.

"Oi! You're gathering the troops and you didn't think to call me!?" He began right away without waiting for The new Doctor to say anything. "With a giant paradox machine hanging over the skies of London, did you think I wouldn't notice!? You've brought just about everybody else, why leave me out of it? You somehow managed to get Donna to remember me without dying. _And _you've managed to bring Rose _and me_ from another dimension! And I'm supposed to stand back and watch! Absolutely not! Oh, this is _so_ happening!"  
"Good heavens, I could talk! I didn't get a word in edgewise!" The new Doctor said from the other end of the phone. "Yes, it's me, Rory! No, not that me, the other me! Oh, for goodness sakes, Rory! Do I have to explain everything to you?" "You haven't explained anything to me!" The Doctor heard from the background. "Shut up, Rory, they'll hear you!" The new Doctor said, before returning his attention to the phone. "Doctor? Oh, that is weird! It's like the flesh-Doctor all over again."

The Doctor sighed. His next regeneration seemed to have a hard time staying focused. "Doctor, listen to me!" He said. "I'm helping, whether you want me to or not."

"Of course you're helping!" The new Doctor said. "As if you could stay away! I just didn't know how to contact you!"

The Doctor frowned. "You contacted the Master, Rose Tyler, and Jenny, and you say you didn't know how to contact _me_?"

"If you want to get technical about it, the Master and Jenny contacted _me_, not the other way around." The new Doctor defended himself.

"And… Rose?" The Doctor inquired patiently.

"Fine, so I lied," the new Doctor sighed. "That's the first rule, the Doctor lies."

"What sort of rule is that!?" The Doctor exclaimed. "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"Well, regardless, it happened," the New Doctor said. "Now are you going to help or not?"

"I said I was going to help!" The Doctor said. "Now, tell me your plan."

"Ah. Yes. You see, it's not exactly a plan…" Then the phone suddenly went quiet for a second, and another voice came on. The Doctor could only assume it was the Rory person his future self had been yelling at earlier.

"Doctor? Or, other Doctor… I'm not entirely sure what to call you… Anyway, the Doctor's "plan" is to run around and _distract_ them while _you_ think of a plan. That's all he's got! Please, tell me you can come up with _something_!"

"Well, I just got here!" The Doctor said defensively. "How am I supposed to have come up with a plan already!?"

"Just try and think of something!" Rory said. "Before he gets me killed! Oh, great, he's _doing _something…" The Doctor could hear the sound of a Sonic Screwdriver in the background. "Just hang in there," He said, smiling at his future companion's frustrated tone. "I'll do my best to think of something, and get you out of there as soon as I possibly can."

"Well, that's good to hear, at least." Rory said. "I'm not sure I can take much more of this- GAH! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" There was the sound of lasers, the sound of doors sliding open and shut, the sound of alien voices shouting orders, and then the sound of a loud crash. The phone was quiet for a second, and then the tone sounded, indicating the call had been cut off.

The Doctor sighed. It sounded as if his future incarnation and Rory had gotten into some trouble. Handing the phone back to Amy, he turned his attention to his part of the plan. "Right then." He said. "Your Doctor wants me to come up with some way to sort this out. Any ideas?"

"Well, first off, you should probably start by meeting the rest of the group." Amy answered him. "They'll be happy to have the reinforcements, and I know Donna would like to see you again."

"Alright," The Doctor agreed. "Where are you all staying?"

"Mostly the TARDIS," Jack told him. "It's a little ways from here, but sometimes we break off to Sally's shop or Martha and Mickey's apartment. We just went out to grab some coffee."

"So, how many people from the list do we already have?" The Doctor asked, as Amy began leading the way to the TARDIS.

"Oh, well we have Jack, of course," Amy started. "And we also have Mickey and Martha, Sally and Larry, the other Doctor and Rose. And then if you're counting people outside of the list, we've got Jenny, the Master and Donna, and you."

"That's quite a troop you've gathered." The Doctor commented as they rounded a corner and the TARDIS came into view. "Ah, the TARDIS." He said. "Doesn't look much different, does it."

"You haven't been inside yet." Jack commented. They walked up to it and Jack inserted his key. He swung the doors open and led the way inside.

"We've got reinforcements!" He exclaimed to the occupants. The Doctor looked around him at the various staircases and the new walls with his eyebrows raised.

"Do we have coffee?" The Master's voice sounded from underneath the console, as he looked at Jack from under the clear floor. "I already told you, I can't work without coffee."

"You brought me?" John Smith said, standing and looking at The Doctor in confusion. "But he wasn't on the list. I just figured that he wasn't coming."

"Apparently, the Doctor didn't know how to contact me." The Doctor started to explain. "But I'm going to help anyway."

"Doctor!" Donna exclaimed happily, rushing around the console and enveloping him in a hug. "Donna!" The Doctor responded as he held her back to get a good look at her. "How's Wilf?"

"Oh, he's just fine." Donna responded with a smile. "Always up the hill with his telescope. Now I understand why! He was keeping watch for you that whole time and I just didn't think about it!"

"Jenny!" The Doctor said, looking at his daughter and smiling. "Hello, Dad." Jenny responded happily.

"I heard that you stole a Space Shuttle," The Doctor said. Jenny grinned even wider. "I guess I just take after my dad," She said. "I heard that he stole a TARDIS."

"Well, I was always going to bring it back," The Doctor defended himself. "And Martha! I haven't seen you in a while."

"Hello, Doctor." Martha said, waving.

"Alright, now it's a party." Mickey said as he walked into the room. "How've you been, boss?"

"Just fine," The Doctor said. "How about you, Mickey the Idiot?"

"You just can't give me a break, can you?" Mickey said, smirking. "Sally will be down soon. Turns out, the Doctor _does_ keep coffee in the pantry." He turned to Amy with a satisfied grin. "I told you."

"I've never seen any." Amy said defensively. "Any luck on contacting River?"

"No," The Master said as he walked up a flight of stairs and leaned against a railing. "Your mysterious River Song is very elusive."

"Master." The Doctor greeted warily.

The Master turned to him and raised his eyebrows. "Doctor." He said in a slightly amused voice. "It's been some time, hasn't it?"

"Quite a bit, since I last saw you." The Doctor said. "I have a question. Why are you blonde?"

"It wasn't my fault." The Master said in indignation. "And by the way, what did you do to your TARDIS interior? I liked the big beams. They added character."

"I liked them too," The Doctor said. "It wasn't me that changed it, it was my future self."

"Well, he has bad taste." The Master said. He looked up at the stairs that Mickey had come down and sighed. "How long does it take to make a decent cup of coffee?" He wondered out loud. "I'll be right back."

And with that, the Master bounced up the stairs without a backwards glance.

"Well, what are you supposed to do?" John asked, leaning against the console and sticking his hands in his pockets. "Did you call the Doctor?"

"Yes, I did." The Doctor informed him. "And, basically, he's counting on me to think up a plan. I'll probably need your help with that, and the Master's if possible."

"Of course," John agreed. "But the Master might be a little harder. He's somewhat difficult."

"Somewhat," Jack scoffed. He turned to the Doctor. "He insults everyone, demands that we bring him things, is always spouting movie quotes, and generally threatens to blow us all up about twice every hour."

"It's not that often," The Master said from the top of the stairs, holding an enormous coffee mug. "Besides, they're just threats. I'm not actually going to blow you all up. Dalek Caan said that I need to team up with the Doctor for this to click, remember? I told you, like, seven times."

"Yeah, well, you've kept information from us before." Jack said. "Even important stuff. So I have every reason to doubt your word."

The Master nodded thoughtfully, seeming to agree. "Anyway," he said. "Coffee's on. About time, to. I practically had to teach the coffeemaker how to do its job. The Future Doctor doesn't take very good care of his possessions."

"How do you teach a coffeemaker anything?" Amy asked with a slight frown.

The Master glared. "You didn't," he said. "I did. Don't take the credit for other people's accomplishments. It's rude."

Jack gave Ten a significant glance, obviously saying _See what I mean?_

The Doctor smirked and then turned to Amy. "So then," he said. "Who's next on the list?"

"River Song," Amy told him. "She's last on the list, now that we've got the Master and Donna here. She's going to be pretty hard to find. River can be a bit unpredictable at times."  
"Hmm, I remember," The Doctor told her, raising one eyebrow. "Now then-"

Before he could say anything else, there was a knock on the door of the TARDIS.

"Who could that be at this hour?" The Master asked, smirking as if he had made a joke. "Does anyone know we're here?"

"Maybe it's River," Amy said, frowning slightly. "Different time streams, maybe she knows that we need her."

John walked to the door briskly as the troops all quieted down a bit and opened it. Outside, there were three people. One of them was a man in his early thirties with auburn red hair that stuck up even more then John's did, he had a goatee the same color as his hair and hazel brown eyes. The man was wearing a dark grey suit jacket over a purple tee-shirt that said 'Rather brilliant of me, really', dark wash jeans, and a pair of black colored converse.

Behind him was a young woman with long slightly curly dark brown hair. She was wearing a pale purple long sleeved shirt, and she smiled sweetly at the small crowd. And behind the girl was a boy of about fourteen with mousy brown hair, who smiled at everyone and was wearing a tee shirt in the same fashion design as the man, only his said 'Jimmy like Ninja'.

"Oh," The red-haired man said, inspecting John. "John Smith. It has been a while since I last saw you."

"I'm sorry," Rose cut in. "Do you know John?"

The man smiled at her. "Of course I do," He told her. "I know all of you. And it's nice to see you, Rose. And everyone."

"Um," The Master said, raising his eyebrows. "We don't know you, obviously."

The redheaded man smiled at the Master brightly. "Yes you do," He said. "You just don't know it, yet."

"Are you from the future, then?" Amy asked him, inspecting him and his friends somewhat suspiciously.

The young woman smiled at her. "Yeah," She said. "We are. It's nice to meet you all finally. He talks about you enough."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" John asked, eyeing the man suspiciously, with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, I'm the Doctor," The man said with a grin. Jack hit his forehead with his hand and Donna raised her eyebrows.

"No," John said excitedly, eyes lighting up as he looked at the man. "No! Really? Donna! Rose! Look at me, I'm Ginger!"

"I can't believe it," The tenth Doctor said, making the exact same expression as John. "I've never been ginger before!"

John grinned and the new Doctor smiled back. "It's nice to see you, John," he said.

"And it's nice to meet you," John said, shaking the new Doctor's hand.

"And... oh, it's bizarre to talk to another Doctor. Haven't done that since I was Eleven." The newest Doctor said, turning to the Doctor.

"I think I was the fifth the last time it happened to me," The Doctor said, rising his eyebrows.

"So wait a minute," The Master said. "You mean now we're going to have to deal with _three_ Doctors?"

"I'm afraid so," The new Doctor said, smiling apologetically at the Master.

"Mrs. Macready?" The Master asked him, much to the confusion of everyone there.

The new Doctor blinked, then smiled. "If you say so," he said.

"Oh, you're much too genial!" The Master said in disgust. "Much too nice for your own good. You should share some of that hatred with Sora."

The boy grinned. "Sora?" He asked excitedly. "You mean, with the Keyblade?"

The Master looked downright surprised. "Yes," he said with a slight frown. "Who are you again?"

"My name's James Kent," The young boy said. "What's your name?"  
"I'm the Master," said the Master. "If your name is James, why does your shirt say Jimmy?"

"That's what everybody calls me," The young boy said. "The Doctor made it for me."

"You make shirts?" Amy asked, looking at the new Doctor, who nodded.

"It's very fun," he said. "I took it from Dwight Schultz. He's also very fun."

"Dwight Schultz?" The Master said. "You met Dwight Schultz?"

"Yes, I did," The new Doctor said with a smile.

"Alright, that's enough," Jack said, glaring at the Master before turning to the young woman with a smile. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."

"Jack," John, the Doctor, and the newest Doctor said warningly at the same time.

"I'm Kara Kent," Kara Kent told him, looking him up and down in distaste. "And I don't like your type."

"You just met me," Jack said, smirking at her a little bit. Kara Kent simply raised her eyebrows and grinned slightly before turning back to the new Doctor.

"So, Doctor," She said. "What now?"

"Now?" The new Doctor asked her. "I'm not sure, I wasn't here last time."

"Wait, I'm not following," Jenny said. "_You're_ the Doctor?"

"The twelfth incarnation to be exact." The new Doctor said, smiling at her widely. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, again."

"Again?" Jenny wondered briefly before nodding. "Oh, right." She said. "You met me when we met before."

"And also now," The Doctor told her. "Not 'now' as in, right now. I meet you a little bit later, as E... the eleventh incarnation."

"You're finally ginger then," Mickey commented to the Doctor. "You wanted to be ginger when you turned from the one with the big ears to the one with the trainers."

"Yes, brilliant, isn't it?" The new Doctor said, grinning at him even more brightly then before. "It's very nice to see you again, Mickey."

"Wait, is there any way for you to prove that you're the Doctor?" The Master asked him. "Just making sure here. I mean, we _are_ at war."

"I don't know," the new Doctor said, still smiling. "I guess I could show you this," He pulled out a Sonic device that looked like a remodeled Sonic Screwdriver.

"Nice," Amy commented, smiling at him. "What happened to your old one?"

"It got old," The new Doctor told her. "You know, that and an electric surge corroding the sonicy-thingy-majig."

"Is that a technical term?" Rose asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.

The new Doctor grinned. "Yes," he said. "I came first in Sonicy-thingy-majig, what about you?"

Rose smiled. "Nah, I failed," she said, smiling.

"Anyway," The Master said, still suspicious. "Anything more specific?"

The new Doctor frowned a little bit in thought. "Somehow," He said. "I figured this would be easier. Um, alright Jenny, that stands for Generated Anomaly. Amy over there is Amelia Pond and she's the girl who waited, we had fish fingers and custard. You," The Master frowned at that, but didn't interrupt. "You just got out of the Void, after traveling around with Dalek Caan for a bit and blowing up all the other Daleks and you quote movies all the time now, and really like to blow things up."

"That's true," The Master said grudgingly. "I've made up my mind, I don't like you."

The new Doctor just smiled at him again. "Believe what you wanna believe," he said cryptically.

The Master looked a little surprised, then he smiled. "Never mind," he said. "Anyone who quotes Rouge the Bat is a friend of mine. But you're still much too genial."

"Fair enough," The new Doctor said, shrugging his shoulders. "Now then, we've got someone else on the way, I believe. At least, he's not here yet, so I bet that he'll be coming sometime later."

"Who's coming?" The Doctor asked him. "Is it someone from the future?"

"Yours, yes." The new Doctor said. "My past, though. It's.. actually not that complicated for you."

"Yeah, I understand just fine." The Doctor said. "Probably some that the other Doctor met, that the eleventh met, right?"

"Wait," The Master cut them off, frowning in thought. "This is too confusing, especially for our readers, we can't call all three of you the Doctor,"

"Why not?" The tenth incarnation of the Doctor asked him curiously.

The Master rolled his eyes. "If I called 'Doctor' in the thick of battle as a warning, none of you would know who I was talking to. And anyway, saying 'Doctor' will start getting really, really, old."

"What would you call us then?" The tenth Doctor asked him. "We're all the Doctor."

"I don't know," The Master said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe I could call you... Ten."

"Ten?" The Doctor said, raising his eyebrows. "Just Ten?"

"Why not?" The Master said. "The other one can be Eleven, and red over there can be Twelve. All references to future or past Doctors being always their number. I think it's creative and fun."

"And it sort of... fits you," Donna greed, looking at Ten. "I mean, if you had to be anything other then Doctor."

"What about John?" John asked her. "Don't you think that fits?"

"No," Donna said, shaking her head lightly.

"No," Jenny also agreed.

Jack frowned and looked John up and down. "No," He said also.

"No," Mickey chimed in. "You've been 'Doctor' since day one. And you only used John Smith once when I was around."

"At the school, yeah," Ten remembered, looking thoughtful. "And - wait, no, you weren't there then. It was just me and Rose."

"I think it fits you fine," Rose said, smiling at John. "And Jackie and Pete have taken to it pretty well. Of course, Suzy just calls you Daddy."

"And I just call you Larry," The Master said, rolling his eyes and turning to the console, apparently bored with the conversation.

"Wait, hold on a minute," Martha said as she stood and grinned at John and Rose. "Did you just say 'Daddy'?"

"Yep, that's right," John said, putting his hands in his pocket and smiling widely.

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Donna exclaimed excitedly. "Do you mean that you and Rose had... that you had a baby?!"

"Yes, of course." John told her. "Her name is Susan Smith. I assume that Jackie's taking care of her now, she was supposed to bring Tony over for a play date in a little bit and I imagine that she'll know something happened and take good care of her. She's about three and a half."

"That's wonderful," Martha said happily. "Who does she look like?"

"Well," Rose started. "She has my hair, and John says that she looks just like me, but she has his eyes, and sometimes she'll get this look on her face when I take away her toys, and it looks like the Doctor whenever people threaten earth."

Martha and Donna both laughed. "She sounds like a doll," Donna said. "Oh, I wish I could see her."

"Congratulations, Doc - I mean, John," Jack said, smiling at them. "I would'a thought that you'd name her after Donna or Martha, though."

"Well, Susan was the name of one of my old grandchildren." John explained.

"Grandchildren?!" Donna cut him off. "I knew you had had kids before but, Grandchildren?!"

"Different time streams I suppose," Amy said, shrugging her shoulders. "River's older then me."

"Different regenerations, actually." Ten corrected her. "I was plenty old back when I was the first. Actually how I died then, you know. Of old age. Probably the most peaceful death I've had so far. Not really fair because he was... well, he was a grouch."

"And that's putting it nicely." The Master agreed, looking thoughtful. "But good people always die in honorable, early, deaths. That's what makes them good people. Thank heavens I'm not one."

"Anyway," Twelve said, looking a little sad at the mentions of good people dying but smiling none the less. "This person that I think will come soon should be coming, well, soon. Maybe we can do something productive until he gets here."

"Like what?" Martha asked him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Who's hungry?" Twelve asked instead of answering her question. Everyone raised their hands except for Ten, the Master, and Kara, who turned to her brother and sighed. "I told you to eat before we came," She said.

"I was too excited," Jimmy said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe we'll order some pizza," Twelve suggested.

"What, with a big Paradox machine hanging over London?" Ten asked him, looking at Twelve in disbelief and raising one eyebrow. "With the other Doctor trapped in that thing with Amy's husband? Get... pizza?"

"While we're waiting," Twelve said. "Jimmy and Kara always liked pizza, and I've acquired a taste for it."

"And we'll tell the pizza company...what, exactly?" The Master said, also raising his eyebrows at Twelve. "Come to the blue box just outside the apartment building that's directly underneath the death trap? If you're not closed due to impending doom?"

"That's right," Twelve said happily. "Does anyone have a phone?"

"Oh, just borrow mine," Kara sighed, handing her phone to him. "But make sure to give it back when you're done." She turned to Jenny. "Last time he used my phone, he dropped it into a lake. On the moon. In the past. He had to buy me a new one!"

"Are you going to call the Doctor?" Amy asked Twelve.

Twelve frowned slightly. "No," He said. "That might not be the best thing, especially as I don't really remember... No, I'm going to call Perfectly Pizza."

"Oh good," Jimmy said. "I love Perfectly Pizza. Can we get the barbeque chicken pizza this time? We always get what Kara wants."

"You take time to get pizza?" Ten asked Twelve, pausing.

Twelve smiled a bit. "Yeah," He said. "Sometimes you find that the more time spent with your friends, the better."

Ten made a face and the Master groaned loudly. "Can you just order the pizza now?" He said. "I'm tired of this conversation."

"You're really ordering pizza?" Amy asked Twelve. "We don't have time for that!"

"Time is such an overcomplicated thing," Twelve said, checking his watch absently. "I think... yes, we're not quite at the right time for the call..."

"What call?" Ten asked him.

"Nothing," Twelve said. "Spoilers, and all that."

"Right," Ten said, nodding his head. "No talking about future stuff. Oh, this is going to be difficult with three of us all trying not to give anything away."

Twelve dialed a number on Kara's cell phone and then held the phone up to his ear. "Hiya," He said into it. "Yeah, sorry if this is an inconvenient time... Oh, you're running now? Well can you put a more grounded employee on the phone?"

"Give me the phone," The Master said, rolling his eyes and yanking the cell phone out of Twelve's hands. He glared as if the person on the other side could see him.

"Bring four, wait, five pizza's to the blue box on..." Here he paused and looked up at Martha. "Where are we?"

"Orchid road," Martha told him. "114."

"114, Orchid road." the Master relayed into the phone. "Make one of those a barbeque chicken. And get over here in fifteen minutes or it's free. And I don't care if you're scared, you'd better make it snappy."

He hung up the phone. "There now," He said. "Was that so difficult?"

"Fifteen minutes?" Amy asked him, raising her eyebrows. "Do you even know where the pizza place is?"

"No," The Master scoffed like it should be the most obvious thing on the planet. "But that's the point of 'or it's free' isn't it?"


	7. Chapter 6: FINALLY, WE'RE DONE GATHERING

_Author's note: My laptop is on the fritz, so I can't work on my main muse, The Monkees, as all of my stuff is on my laptop. However, my sister and I can now focus on Doctor Who. Also, we have finally decided that in our GTTniverse, this story is number 5. Hopefully, this will be the last time we change the order. SO, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!_

* * *

The delivery man walked up to the blue box and hesitated. The box barely seemed big enough to fit two people, but this was the address that the man on the phone had given.

Walking forward, the man knocked on the blue double doors, balancing the five pizza boxes in one arm.

The door swung open to reveal a man with tousled brown hair and a suit. "Oh, right," The man said. "Doctor, your pizza's here."

He moved aside and a another man, this one with red hair and a goatee. "Good, I love pizza. How much do we owe you?"

"More then fifteen minutes," A voice sang from inside the box. "It's free."

"That's just _your_ rule," The man with the brown hair called back. "And it's pretty much pure bravery that he even came out here."

"You know nothing's really going on at the moment, right?" A redheaded woman said, stepping into view and raising an eyebrow at the man in the suit.

"The Tenissfuin are still waiting."

"I know that," The man said. "But he doesn't really, does he?"

The delivery man blinked at the three. "Um," He said. "How many people do you have in there?"

The man in the suit looked at him, a tad distracted. "Oh," He said. "Just...a few."

"Doctor," Another girl said, coming into view and pushing the red-haired man out of the box so that she could fit into the doorway. The man with the brown hair and the other woman also moved aside. "Doctor, we're all pretty hungry." The girl continued. "And the Master and Jack started arguing again, can we hurry this up?"

"Do-" The delivery man stuttered. "Are you - What's that box?"

"Oh, nothing," The red-haired man said with a smile. "Just simple, everyday, blue-box stuff."

The redheaded woman and the young woman both scoffed.

But then the two were also pushed away from the double doors and a man with blonde hair and a very familiar face appeared.

"Oi," He said, frowning at everyone. "I'm not paying you all to stand around and chat. Get into the TARDIS."

"You're not paying us to do anything," The man with the brown hair said, frowning a bit.

"Fine then," The man frowned. "Just don't pay me."

"Are - you look like Harold Saxon," The delivery man said, staring at the look a-like of the former Prime Minister.

"It's nothing," The red-haired man said, grinning. The other man, the one with the blonde hair, nodded. "Only a little bit significant. Actually, quite a bit significant."

"None of that," The man with the brown hair said, frowning at the blonde man. "No telling civilians about us."

"Well, you just told him that we're not civilians." The blonde man said, raising his eyebrows.

"If you're not civilians," The delivery man said, confused. "And you've got that weird... Box, then... are you like, aliens or something?"

"Oh, please." The young woman said, frowning at the delivery boy. "Aliens? Really?"

"With - with the thing-y hanging over our heads, anything can be alien," The delivery man stuttered. "Es-especially people in random boxes that - that are full of people. One of which is a ghost Harold Saxon."

"Well, look who was paying attention." The Saxon man said, smiling at him.

"Get inside!" Another man, this one with black flyaway hair, said, glaring at the Harold Saxon clone. "Do you want someone to call the police?"

The Harold Saxon man pouted indignantly. "This man obviously isn't scared off easily." He said. "Plus, the police are getting flooded with useless calls for help. Honestly, one spaceship and the entire world goes into panic mode."

"That's what I thought," A girl with curly, caramel colored hair said, as she also stepped up to stand next to the man with flyaway hair.

"Just get back inside." The man with the dark hair said, pushing against the Harold Saxon clone and the girl with the caramel hair.

"Gosh," The Harold Saxon guy said. "A guy can take a hint. I know when I'm not wanted. Come on, Sally. Let's watch from the monitor."

"Alright then," The girl said.

They both disappeared from sight, along with the black haired man, and the man in the suit turned back to the delivery guy with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that." He said.

"Your pizzas?" The man asked, holding out the pizza's with a shaking hand.

"Did you get barbeque chicken?" A boy with mousy brown hair said, bouncing into view. "Because the Master said that on the phone. You know, I like the Master. I think he's cool. And do you know what he told me? He told me that he wasn't much older then me when he graduated from the Academy! Then he told me that he was lying, but it was still really-"

"Jimmy," Interrupted the redheaded man. "Maybe this wouldn't be the best time."

"Of course there's barbeque chicken." The Harold Saxon man said, reappearing and smirking at the boy, apparently Jimmy. "Unlike the Doctor, I always listen to people."

"What?" The man in the suit exclaimed indignantly. "You never listen to anybody! Least of all humans."

"Oh, just get the pizzas and pay the man." Harold Saxon said, rolling his eyes.

"You said _not_ to pay the man!" The brown haired man reminded him.

The Saxon man frowned at him. "Oi," He said angrily. "No contradicting your Master."

"Here are your pizzas." The delivery man said, thrusting the pizza's into the arms of the red-haired man.

"Thank you," The man said, fumbling a little but managing to keep his footing. He turned and went into the box, and a cheer went up from inside like there were several more people inside.

The delivery man looked behind it, but it was just a box.

"How much do I-" The tall man with the brown hair started as the redheaded woman, the young boy, and the young woman all left.

"It was over fifteen minutes." The man who had referred to himself as the Master said. "I'll give you a tip," Here he turned back to the delivery man. "Next time you're at the library, check out a book about a champion of the world. And yes, I just quoted Lemony Snicket."

With that, the man grabbed the brown haired man's arm and yanked him back into the box. The man protested with little more then an indignant 'Oi!', and the other blonde man rolled his eyes again before smirking at the delivery man and then slammed the doors shut.

The delivery man stood there, gaping at the box for a second, before pulling out his cell phone and calling up 911. All he got was a busy signal.

* * *

"So we're just gonna wait here?" The Master said for the hundredth time, frowning and crossing his arms.

"For the billionth time, yes," Twelve said, smiling. "That is to say, we're just going to wait here, but we're not _only_ just going to wait here."

"That made absolutely no sense," The Master said pouting.

"Like you're one to talk," Jack noted.

The Master frowned at him, then held his hand up at him and pantomimed pressing a button. "Beep," he said. "I muted you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to start fixing things."

"What do you mean, 'fixing'?" Donna asked warily.

"I mean, it doesn't even matter if this mysterious person who's supposed to get here gets here if here can never go anywhere else," The Master said. "As long as we're grounded, we're powerless. Besides, that exposed wire up there on the Puttanesca Particle Regulator is really, really bugging me."

"Wait, Puttanesca?" Sally asked. "You mean like pasta?"

The Master frowned. "Pasta!?" He said. "That is a crucial piece of Time Lord technology, very important! The Pasta is like the particle regulator, not the regulator is like the pasta. Or roast beef."

"Roast beef!?" John said.

"Yes," The Master said. "It is the Swedish term for beef that is roasted."

"But we've got pizza," Jimmy reminded them.

"Oh yeah," The Master said. "Good boy, Jimmy. Give me a piece of barbeque chicken while I take care of that pesky puttanesca particle regulator, will you? Twelve, when is your mysterious companion showing up?"

"Oh. he's not mine," Twelve said with a smile. "He's Eleven's. I haven't seen him. But he'll probably be here soon."

There was a knock on the TARDIS door just then.

"Who iiiis iiiit?" The Master sang out in a squeaky voice.

Everyone looked at him for a second before Ten moved to answer the door. As soon as the door was opened, a man with a rather permanently-worried, but all around nice face stepped in. "Doctor?" He asked, looking at Ten. "Wait, you're the wrong one. You're the last one."

"What?" Ten asked, frowning in confusion.

"Hello, Craig!" Twelve said with a smile. "He's the last one and I'm the next one. The current one, well, for you anyway, is out."

"THE DOCTOR IS OUT!?" The Master said suddenly. "Oh, that's so... huh..." Then he trailed off and turned back to the puttanesca particle regulator.

"Okay," Craig said, looking confused. "What's going on then? Where is the Doctor? I mean my Doctor, the current Doctor?"

"We're using their regeneration numbers now," The Master said. "That means the number of Doctor you're referring to."

"Alright then, where's... Eleven?" Craig asked.

"Sorry, um, who are you?" Ten asked, still frowning.

"Oh, you haven't met me yet," Craig said. "Well, Doctor, er, Ten, I'm Craig. Your room-mate."

"My what?" Ten asked.

"Well, it's um, complicated," Craig said. Across the room, Larry chuckled.

"Fine then," Ten said. "No spoilers, I know."

"Wait, paradox!" Craig yelled suddenly, putting a hand over his mouth. "I'm talking to the Doctor, but he didn't know me when he was him! You don't know me and you can't know me because you don't know me!"

"Oh, now you've gone and confused everyone," Jack said sarcastically.

"What are you talking about, he was perfectly clear," The Master said. "Don't worry, Human-I've-Never-Met-That-Everyone-Is-Calling-Craig. That giant ship in the sky is a paradox machine. It works."

"But what about when it's gone?" Craig asked. "And the Doctor knows me before he knows me?"

"Good question," The Master said. "But not relevant right now. We'll blow up that bridge when we get to it."

"Right," Ten said. "Well, not about blowing up a bridge. Well, I suppose it might come to that eventually. Well, we'd better... cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we don't need to wait any longer. It's time to keep going. Who's next on the list?"

"What list?" Craig asked.

"Eleven made a list of people he wanted to gather, to fight the aliens in the sky," Jenny said. "There's only one more person he specified."

"He made a list?" Craig asked. "Then why did I have to find you on my own? Why didn't you come to me?"

"You weren't on the list, mate," Mickey said apologetically.

Craig blinked, then nodded, looking frustrated. "He never asks for help," he said. "Why doesn't he ever ask for help? He doesn't have to do everything alone all the time!"

"Tell me about it," Rose said.

"So, the last one on the list is River." Amy said after a short pause, looking up from her list to see if anyone had any objections this time. "She's out of prison, so how are we going to find her?"

"Just turn around," River said from the door. Everyone whirled around in shock.

"River." Amy greeted her as River walked further into the room. "How did you know what was going on?"

River smirked. "Spoilers." She reminded her.

"I take it that that's River." The Master said, looking fairly impressed with her entrance.

"No, it's a Dalek." Jack said sarcastically, rolling his eyes at him. The Master frowned at him.

"I heard that there was trouble and I didn't want to miss the party." River explained, she smiled at the Master. "Hello again." She said.

Everyone turned to the Master, who raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Have we met somewhere before?" He asked in surprise.

River smiled. "I have," she said. "But you haven't."

Sally sighed. "Will someone please explain what's going on?" She asked.

River turned to her. "Well," she said. "I'm a time traveler, just like the Doctor, so our timelines are all mixed up. We keep meeting out of order, which is precisely what just happened with the Master and I."

The Master nodded once, now understanding. "Well then," he said. "I look forward to one day knowing you first," he said. "And since you're the famous River Song, I feel I must ask; why the Doctor?"

River smirked and turned to Amy, completely ignoring the Master, who looked a bit put off by this. "So, now that I'm here, I would like to know why I'm needed," she said. "I know about the Paradox machine, but what's so important about it?"

"It's being controlled by an ancient alien called the Tenissfuin." Amy said, hoping that she sounded more knowledgeable on the subject then she felt. "They're supposed to be really powerful and really bad."

"Really, really, bad." The Master cut Amy off. "According to legend they kept control of every living thing and ruled every dimension with chaos and darkness. They might have even been the beginning of the Time Lord race, but then again they might have been phantoms with connections to no one."

"If they can gather control of everything, why haven't they?" River asked, thinking.

"They are waiting." The Master explained. "Or to be more specific, _he_ is waiting. The last Tenissfuin. For what?" He shrugged. "I don't know."

"The _last_?" Amy said, looking at him with frustration. "You didn't tell us this before."

The Master blinked at her in bewilderment. "Oh," He said. "Yeah, I forgot. Dalek Caan's predictions all kind of jumbled together after a while."

"Right," Jack glared. "Is there anything else that you've 'forgotten' to tell us?"

"I don't like your tone." The Master said, leaning against the wall. "Let's not forget that I'm trying to help you for once, or that your Doctor trusts me, _or _that I'm a genius whose part in this could mean the difference between a victory for us and a victory for them."

"So, really, what are we doing?" River interrupted, looking at Amy questioningly. "And where's the Doctor?"

"Which one?" Kara asked her. "Ten, Eleven, or Twelve? Or are you talking about John?"

"Eleven." River clarified.

"He's being a distraction, with Rory." Amy said, trying to hide her worry. "They're somewhere in the ship."

"What are we supposed to do?" River sighed. "We can't just leave the Doctor in the machine and wait, we need a plan.

"Yeah, we know." Amy told her. "Him and Rory are sort of counting on Ten to think up one. He, the Master, and Twelve have been thinking for a while about what to do when we picked you up. None of us know what they're talking about most of the time."

River laughed. "Oh, I'll bet." She said. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

"The Doctor wanted you to call him on Rory's cell phone." Amy explained. "Apparently, it's important. He said that he couldn't gather the troops without you."

"Well, I'll just give him a call." River dialed the number and smiled as it clicked on. "Hello!?" Answered Eleven, sounding panicked.

"Hello, Sweetie," she said.

"Oh, River! Good, Amy got to you!" Eleven started talking quickly. "Listen. I was captured. I'm not sure where Rory is, we got separated. They're going to take my phone now, No, just a second, I'm almost done! River! The TARDIS is malfunctioning, you need to-" The line got cut off and River stared down at the phone.

"Well, he got himself captured, of course!" She said. "Now we're going to have to change the plan so we can go and save his neck!"

"We can't just change the plan, whatever it is that those morons have been talking about." Amy said worriedly. "But we need to save them."

"We can fix the plan so that it includes getting me out." Ten assured them. "It was always sort of part of the plan anyway."

"We do have the plan completed. There's a separate first step," Twelve said. He stood and addressed the group at large. "Alright, everyone." He yelled. "We've come up with a plan of sorts."

"Of course, the TARDIS is regrettably broken and can't be driven." The Master started speaking. "So, first things first, we need to fix it."

"There are only a handful of people with the ability to fix the TARDIS." Ten interrupted him. "There is myself of course,"

"And me and River." Twelve put in, smiling.

"And me." The Master smirked. "Plus Donna, because she has part of the Doctor in her."

"And John Smith." Ten also said. "And Jack might be able to help."

"I can help!" Jimmy exclaimed, jumping up.

"No, Jimmy." Twelve sighed as he looked Jimmy up and down worriedly. "I think that it would be best if you just stayed back."

"No you can help." The Master told him, frowning slightly at Twelve. "We could use an extra set of hands to get screws or something."

"Thanks, Master!" Jimmy said excitedly. "This is gonna be so great! I'm going to help three Time Lords, four if you count Donna, and an ex time agent fix the TARDIS! Oh, it is _so_ cool!" He rushed off to go and get something and the Master smirked at the Doctor before turning back to the group.

"And all you other idiots can sit still and stay out of our way!" He demanded, glaring at them. "TARDIS fixing is an exact science. Even one second of distraction can be the difference between a happy TARDIS and a dysfunctional TARDIS. And you wouldn't want me to accidently blow it up or something."

"How can you accidently blow something up?" Jenny asked him.

The Master shrugged. "You'd be surprised." He told her.

"The Master is correct," Said Ten, addressing everyone. "Well, not about blowing things up. Well, I've blown stuff up on accident before, so I guess he _is_ right about that." He considered that for a second. "But he's right about the quiet, I mean. This is a very delicate and old ship, we need to do things carefully and for that we need you all to not distract us. You can still talk amongst yourselves,"

"Although, you're all so stupid that even _that _might distract me." The Master cut in, rolling his eyes.

"But we would like it if you were less noisy then usual." Ten pressed on, ignoring the Master.

"After the TARDIS is fixed properly," River spoke up. "Eleven has gone and gotten captured." She said, placing her hands on her hips and sighing. Everyone who hadn't heard the phone call looked at her in alarm. "He and Rory have been separated and they took his phone. We need to save them. Next step."

"I agree." Twelve said, pointing at her as if she had all the answers. "I definitely need rescuing. But we need to rescue Rory first, wait, and then come back for Eleven."

"Why would we wait?" Amy asked anxiously, "Is the Doctor in trouble?"

"No. Actually yes, but not that bad." Twelve tried to assure her, running a hand through his red hair. "It's important that he gets the chance to call us. Don't worry though; it'll all make sense to you someday."

"So I'm that kind of man, then?" Ten sighed, inspecting Twelve. "The 'It'll make sense in the distant future' kind of man?'" He sighed and then stuck his hands in his pocket. "At least I'll be ginger."

"So then, time to start working." Twelve said. "If you could all, sit or something."

"Oh, don't be polite, Twelve. Seriously." The Master cut in. He looked at everyone and then smiled grandly. "Get out!" He told them, pointing at the door that led to the kitchens. "Everyone who's not going to work with us on the TARDIS. Get out and talk about whatever it is that you mammals talk about and leave us geniuses to get _you_ out of your hole."

"Wow, he's charming." Kara sighed as she walked to the door, she and the others all left the console room and the Master turned and smiled at the remaining people.

"Now then," He said happily. "We can actually get something done." He left to work on a part of the TARDIS.


	8. Chapter 7: The Time of Eleven

River worked on a part of the TARDIS quietly. Dwelling on the call that she'd gotten from the Doctor.

Of course he would have to get himself captured. And she had been sort of counting on Rory to keep on eye on him in her absence, but instead, they had gotten separated.

Her Doctor was so stupid. He couldn't seem to stop putting his life in danger. At least they were sort of on the same page this time, sort of.

There was still that day coming for her. That worst day.

"So," The Master said suddenly, as he walked over to where she was working and leaned against the railing. "Dr. Song." He said the name like it was something to laugh about.

"Its professor," River corrected, looking at the Master curiously. She had never really heard much of him, but apparently he was important. "And call me River."

"What's your place in all this?" The Master asked, not taking any notice of her protest. "I know that you're married to the Doctor, but I mean, why?"

"Why did I marry the Doctor?" River said in disbelief. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

"I'm the Master, everything is my business." The Master sighed, like he frequently had to explain that. Gosh, he sounded like the Doctor. "Why him though, really?" He asked again. "He's not even the good Doctor, or the fashionable one. He's Eleven! Gluagh! All weirdish and bowties and suspenders!"

"I like the bowtie." River said diplomatically, all while smirking at his explanation of Eleven.

"Regardless." The Master said. "What really made you like him?"

"He's the Doctor." River said, deciding not to get into her life's story with someone that she didn't even know. "Who wouldn't like him?"

The Master looked at her and then grinned mischievously. "Oh, you have no idea, Dr. Song." He said happily, still grinning like an idiot. "Of course, there was always Sarah-Jane Smith that loved him, practically until the day she died, don't tell him I said that, by the way. And then there was Grace Holloway. I've heard stories about her. And then, of course, Rose Tyler. Which I don't understand at all, but she loved the Doctor and the Doctor loved her. You can just see how it all worked out with her and the Doctor duplicate. Then there was Martha Jones, well, Smith now I guess. But once she was Martha Jones and she loved the Doctor too. And then there were about five blonds that I don't know much about. He has a thing for blonds."

River frowned at him. "How many was that?" She asked him, determined to bring it up once they'd picked up Eleven.

"Nine that I can count." The Master told her. "Though I might have over exaggerated a bit about the blonds. You'd have to ask Donna about that."

"Believe me, I will." River said, turning back to her work.

"I like you, Dr. Song." The Master laughed, still smirking insanely. "The Doctor doesn't deserve a bad girl like you."

"Of course not." River said, grinning a bit herself. "But I love him."

The Master shook his head in apparent confusion and walked away, he called out an instruction to Jimmy, who followed him like a lost puppy, and began to fiddle with the TARDIS controls.

River shook her head and turned back to her work. That man was like a strange, messed up version of her Doctor. Even the way that he talked reminded her of him.

* * *

_It just isn't fair,_ Ten thought bitterly as he worked on the TARDIS._ It's just not fair at all. I lose everyone. EVERYONE I care about. And before the week is over, here they are all back again, just as if they never left. But they did. All of them._

He looked around at all of the people working on the TARDIS. There was Donna, of course. His best friend, one of the best and brightest he'd ever traveled with. Working away happily, almost a full Time Lord and yet, still the same old Donna she'd ever been.

But not for him. His Donna had just forgotten everything, his Donna had, less than a week ago for him, reverted back to the old Donna Noble, the Donna Noble who missed every alien invasion that happened under her nose. The Donna Noble who was more concerned about sassing her boss and her mum and Narys and the world than she was about making a difference. The Donna Noble who truly considered herself to be worth absolutely nothing at all.

The most important woman in the universe, reduced to shouting at people who couldn't hear her. Who _wouldn't_ hear her.

And yes, he knew now that she would one day be better, he was watching her right now, as she fixed the TARDIS. But he wouldn't live to see it. This wouldn't happen for him until he was the next Doctor, the unknown Eleven they were working so hard to save

Then he turned to Jack. Good ol' Jack, who never stopped 'dancing' and could never die. It really was too bad he was so... wrong. His fixed-pointedness was already starting to grate on Ten's sensitive time-sensing nerves. The TARDIS was a space of compressed dimension, and he could feel the time of Eleven swirling in the air around him. But it stopped short at Jack.

Where Jack was, the time of Eleven froze and pushed against the last time of Nine, like opposing magnets that were forced to press against each other. The time of Eleven was already in turmoil at having to share its space with Ten and his timeline, and at sharing the space with Twelve. Now that there was a fixed point belonging to Nine's time, it just made it worse.

Then there was the TARDIS itself. So different, so... retro. With the glass floor and the staircases and the pulleys and levers and the kitchen sink. It was far too cluttered for Ten's taste, and it just served to remind him that when his time came to an end, when his song ended, there would be nothing familiar with him, no way to ground himself and keep himself from turning out... less sane.

When he had turned from Nine into Ten, he'd had Rose. He'd had a reason to be something brilliant. His TARDIS had stayed the same. He'd even been brought to an actual house, and been properly cared for. (Well, as proper as Jackie and Mickey had been able to care for a Time Lord who was just getting over regeneration sickness complicated with a side disease of TARDIS time-vortex energy poisoning while the world outside was being invaded with Christmas trees and blood controlling aliens).

But now... he had no one. Like always. He would be completely alone whenever he died, and he would turn into a man who preferred a cluttered TARDIS and who ran around in paradox machines with no plan whatsoever.

_It's just not fair,_ he thought to himself again._ It's not fair at all._

* * *

"Look at this wiring!" The Master exclaimed, having removed a hatch to reveal some sparking and a few somewhat burnt looking wires. "This should be illegal! How can you so blatantly disregard the needs of your TARDIS?!"

"What are you blabbering about?" Donna sighed, crossing over to where he was kneeling on the floor. The Master gestured to the wiring that he'd uncovered.

"I think that this _was_ illegal back on Gallifray!" He said in indignation. "You would've had your TARDIS confiscated for this, not to mention all the other problems with the poor girl. Doesn't the Doctor take care of his ship?!"

"It runs properly." Donna reminded him, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, yes, perfectly proper." The Master said sarcastically. "She's gotten so cantankerous with her situation that the Doctor really has no chance of controlling her movements, her dimensional stabilizer is in need of a regreasing, and I'm betting the only reason that she doesn't lock the Doctor out of her doors and fly into the Vortex all by herself is that she thinks that without her guiding hand, the Doctor will get himself killed. Which, by the way, is a possibility." He reached up and patted the console in a sympathetic manner. "Poor baby, what has the mean Doctor done to you?"

Donna blinked at him in bewilderment. "She's never complained." She said, looking at the TARDIS curiously.

"Of course not, the loyal old girl is far to attached to her thief," The Master muttered, running a hand over the wall and smiling a bit. The first real smile that Donna had seen on his face. "Though she admits that I'm much warmer company and welcomes me as a co-pilot."

"The TARDIS is talking to you?" Donna said in shock.

"Time Lord's were meant to have connections to their TARDIS's." The Master said defensively. "And she's almost as starved for attention as her master is. Not me, the Master master. Her master, Doctor master."

"What do you mean, starved for attention?" Donna asked worriedly.

"Just look at her!" The Master exclaimed. "Faulty wiring, burnt out nearly completely! Parking brakes on _permanently_! Chameleon circuit damaged almost beyond repair!"

"No," Donna cut him off. "I meant the Doctor."

"Oh," He said disinterestedly. "Just look at him sometime, you'll see what I mean."

Donna turned and looked over to where Ten was quietly working on a separate part of the TARDIS. On his face was the same look she'd seen on him that very first day she met him, when he stood in the fire and the rain and he watched, as she called to him that he'd done enough and needed to leave.

Donna looked back at the Master, who had turned back to the TARDIS and was stroking it sympathetically again.

"How do you notice things like that?" Donna asked him, frowning. He wasn't supposed to be the one who noticed, that was her job.

The Master looked up at her in confusion. "Notice what?" He asked.

Donna stared.

"Oh, the Doctor thing?" The Master said, his face lighting up in realization. "I don't know. I guess I've known him so long I can see it at a glance."

He smiled at Donna's incredulous expression. "That's right," he said. "You humans think you know so much, 'cause you traveled with him for a year, in your case, or, in the red-head's case, ten. That's nothing compared to the hundreds of Time Lord years."

"You've known him for that long?" Donna wondered, biting her lip.

"I'm very bored, Donna." The Master sighed. "And the TARDIS is very needy. Are we done here?"

"But, what about the Doctor? What do you know about him?" Donna asked.

"What _don't _I know?" The Master said. "We went to nursery school together, I was there the day he ran from the Time Vortex, I've been his enemy for near on a thousand years. He found me when I was an old forgetful human professor at the end of the universe, and then he reminded me that I was a Time Lord. I saved his life last year, and then he saved mine. I can tell when he's upset or excited or brooding or when he's just lost something, and I'm betting that he knows me almost as well. Oh, Donna Noble, you've been inside his head, you've got a piece of him in you right now. You don't know him at all."

"What do you mean I don't know him at all!?" Donna exclaimed.

"Shh, he's coming." The Master warned without turning away from the TARDIS. Donna turned and saw that Ten was indeed heading their way.

"How's it coming over here?" He said, looking over the Master's shoulder.

"Absolutely horrible!" The Master said, turning and glaring at Ten. "I'm seriously, seriously furious! You call yourself a traveler and your TARDIS is in this condition!? Shameful!"

Ten frowned indignantly. "Shameful!?" He said. "You turned her into a Paradox machine!"

The Master rolled his eyes. "Yes, but at least I had a purpose for it, and I made sure she could be fixed," he said. "You've been neglecting her for years! All because you were too lazy or too distracted to take care of her properly!"

"She's never complained!" Ten said defensively.

"Oh really?" The Master said. "What do you call that horrible noise she makes when she materializes? A thank you for your love and attention!?"

"I call it… a noise!" Ten said. "It means you've left the parking brake on, and I happen to like it!"

"Well, she doesn't!" The Master said. He turned to the TARDIS wall and petted it. "Do you, poor baby? Don't worry, the Master's here to make it all better!"

Ten rolled his eyes. "Just get her working," he said as the Master leaned his head against the wall and pouted sympathetically. "And don't… do that…" Ten trailed off, turning away and walking towards the center of the TARDIS.

The Master opened his eyes and watched Ten. "See? He said to Donna. "He just needed a little distracting."

Donna turned and looked at the Doctor, who was looking up at the ceiling of the TARDIS curiously, as if he were considering what the Master had said. The look he had been wearing before was completely gone.

Donna turned back to the Master, who had gone back to re-wiring the TARDIS, obviously focused on her and her only. She shook her head. For everything that the Master had done in the past, he certainly had many hidden sides.

* * *

"Well, where is he?" Amy said, turning to Twelve. Twelve looked up at her in confusion. "What?" He asked.

"Where is my husband?" Amy clarified. "You said the first step was to go and get him before we got the Doctor."

"No, no." The Master cut her off, walking over to them and leaning against the console. "First step was to fix the regrettably broken TARDIS, getting your husband was the second step."

"Fine, the second step." Amy said as she rolled her eyes at the Master. "So where is he?"

"Look, I told you." Twelve said warily. "I can't give out spoilers. And anyway, I don't know where he is. I wasn't there with him, remember?"

"I know where he is!" The Master exclaimed, putting his hand up and grinning.

Everyone looked at him. "Where?" Jack asked him.

"Well, let's all think for a moment." The Master said. "The Doctor got separated from him when they were captured, and the thingy is only about… hmm, fifteen stories, each of which probably contains a cell block. Those two have been running around in that thing for a couple of days, and considering how much trouble they're bound to run into and how long it would take to get to the top and the different times that we called, I'd say that they're on floor I, probably in cell block I, which is cell block 9. Plus, if you give the TARDIS this date, and the name of your distraction, and tell her to take us where she thinks we need to go, then we'll probably get to wherever he is without me having to explain what I know already. She's very smart about doing that sort of thing. Aren't you?" Here he tuned to the console. "Yes, you are, baby."

"… Right." Jack said after a second. "But we couldn't do that with the old TARDIS. With Nine's."

"Can't do it with mine either." Ten commented. "Generally, she needs a bit more then that."

"Yeah, but my Doctor's TARDIS can." Amy said, walking to the hanging monitor. "He did it in 1969."

"Did he go to 1969 again?" Martha asked. "We already saw the moon landing four times. And he lost interest after that."

"Different reasons." River told her simply. "But we did see the moon landing, just through a television screen. And then I killed everyone and we left."

"Oh, I knew I liked you Doctor Song." The Master said, smiling. "The Doctor was okay with that?"

"Well, he didn't really see it all." River smirked. "But he did say that he liked it that I could shoot."

"Really?" Ten asked her, frowning a bit. "I was fine with you killing everyone?"

"Like I said, he didn't see that part." River said, smiling at him mischievously. "At least, Rory said he didn't."

"Anyway," The Master said, over exaggeratedly rolling his eyes at River and then turning to Jack and smiling. "Give me your gun."

"What?" Jack asked him, surprised.

The Master groaned. "Look, if we're going to storm into a big paradox machine and demand that they give us that companion person then I need some firepower."

"No, you don't." Jack said. "You can't have a gun, because last time you were here, you tried to achieve world domination and turned everyone into yourself, and you've threatened to blow us up on multiple occasions. We can't trust you with a weapon, especially mine."

"What?" The Master said, looking at Jack in disbelief. "I told you once; I'll tell you again, I don't get tired of it. Dalek Caan said that I had to team up with you in order to pull out of this alive and therefore, no matter how much you're annoying me, I can't blow you all to smithereens. So, I'll need a gun."

"Just because you can't blow us up doesn't mean we need to trust you." Jack pointed out. "You shouldn't have a gun because you're mentally insane. Not to mention there's a possibility that you weren't entirely truthful about Dalek Caan's predictions, as you're not the most trustworthy person."

"But I need a gun more then you do." The Master pouted. "Compared to me, you are a guh-nat." He pronounced the G in gnat like it wasn't silent.

Jack blinked in confusion for a second, but decided just to roll with it. "That's beside the point." He said, shaking his head.

"Are you calling _me_ a guh-nat?!" The Master exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and glaring.

"No!" Jack said. "I didn't call you anything!"

"Are you calling me stupid?!" The Master shouted, now smiling a little bit at Jack's frustrations. He turned to Amy. "You! Get in the wagon!"

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked him in bewilderment.

The Master looked around the control room at everyone for a second with a hopeful expression, and then he sighed. "It's nothing." He said. "You deprived, ridiculous children. Anyway, have it your way, but don't blame me when the redhead's husband ends up dying."

"Like you would be the difference between life and death." Jack scoffed.

The Master grinned happily. "I can be." He said. "Especially your death, though I guess it _wouldn't _be much of a difference if you came back…"

"Not to interrupt," Amy interrupted, glaring at the two of them. "But my husband still needs to be rescued. And are you forgetting that until we do that, the Doctor can't be rescued either?"

"She's right." Mickey inputted. "We need to focus right now."

"Ugh, whatever." The Master said, turning to the monitor. "We'll give her what she needs and let her fly."

"I think Professor Song should go ahead and do that." Ten protested.

"Oh, not you too." The Master said in exasperation as he looked at Ten and pouted. "Why don't you all just come out and say 'Master, we don't trust you.'?"

"Master," Donna said. "We don't trust you."

"Fine, I'll just go, then." The Master said, walking to the stairs and starting to go up them. "I'll take my vast knowledge of just about everything and make it some more coffee. _You_ all can decide exactly what Dalek Caan said about predictions and the last Tenissfuin and how this entire thing might play out."

He left the room and Jack ground his teeth together. "I hate it when he does that." He said in frustration.

"I think he's bluffing this time." Martha said thoughtfully.

"Five bucks says he doesn't know anything new." Mickey said, turning to Larry, who looked thoughtful.

"He's always doing these things." Amy told River, who looked a bit confused. "All of the time, he'll tell us that he has some sort of information and demand that we do something, more or less. He's fallen through a couple of times though, and the boys don't always believe him."

"I can see that." River responded. She turned to Mickey. "Fifteen says he actually does have something."

"Um, River." Ten said. "Shouldn't you start up the TARDIS and get it to… wherever it is she takes us?"

"Oh, right." River said, getting up and smiling at him. "Ten, you and Twelve can help. I know it might be difficult for you to watch someone else drive the TARDIS better then you can."

"After all this time, I've gotten used to it." Twelve said as he stood and walked to the console.

"Oh, so I definitely see more of you then." River said, distracted as she worked with the TARDIS. "Spoilers, Sweetie."

"Okay," The Master said, walking into the room with two cups of coffee and walking up to River. "Doctor Song." He said, holding out the cup. River took the cup a little hesitantly, but smiled all the same.

"Thank you." She said.

The Master grinned. "Don't worry." He said. "I didn't poison it. It just has some sugar and caramel and arsenic and some creamer and just a tad of-"

"Wait, arsenic?" Jack asked. "That's a joke right?"

"No," The Master said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "I was totally going to murder Dr. Song in the most obvious way so that I could estrange myself from the people that Dalek Caan said were the only chance I have of staying alive. Staying alive. And I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you and your talking dog. You know, you really are sharp, Harkness, it's a good thing that Dr. Song has you to look out for her– Of course I didn't poison the stupid coffee, you moron!"

"Alright," Jack said, holding up his hands. "I was just making sure. You do have a bit of track record."

"As do you, ex time agent, don't remember two years of your life, former con-artist." The Master said, looking at Jack in disgust. "And you don't see _me_ lording it over _you_."

"We're off." River said, pushing the TARDIS into flight.

"No we're not." Rose said as she, Jack, Mickey and Martha all looked at the River in bewilderment. "It didn't make the sound."

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "That… sound always goes off when the TARDIS takes off."

"What sound?" Sally wondered.

"You know," Jack said. "The one that goes WOOERRWOOP WOOERRWOOP."

"Actually I think it sounds more like SERRUEMM SERRUEMM." Kara corrected him, also trying to make the TARDIS noise.

"You got to make it more from your throat." Mickey said in consideration. He cleared his throat and tried as well. Much more gravelly then Jack and Kara's. "DERRWOOUMPH DERWOOUMPH."

"No, no." The Master said, turning his head to the side. "I've been hearing it for years, it's a bit more like VERRWAHNAH VERRWAHNAH MINOMINOMINOMEW. And the reason it does that is-"

"That's not how it ends." Amy interrupted him. "It ends more like EENOEENOWEENOWEE."

"No, I'm pretty sure that it ends by going MINOMINOMINOMEW." The Master said. "And I'm more of an authority on this because I've been hearing that for the last... Mm, eleven hundred years, give or take a hundred. And like I was saying, the Doctor-"

"Wait, I thought the main part sounded different." Jimmy said. "A bit more, SHWHAVA SHWAVA."

"You've all got it wrong." Donna scoffed. "Watch this, VRRRMMMHHH! VRRRMMMHHH! VRRRMMMHHH!"

"That's pretty much spot on." Ten told her, smiling proudly. "Though the rest of you did fairly well."

"…Alright then." Sally said, looking exceptionally confused. "Getting past all the weird noises…"

"The Doctor always leaves the parking brake on." River told everyone. "That's why it makes that grinding noise."

"Thank you, Dr. Song." The Master said, frowning at everyone. "That's what I was trying to tell everyone amidst their weirdness."

"You joined in on that weirdness." Jenny pointed out. "You were making crazy noises just like everyone else."

"Getting back to the main point," The Master said pointedly. "The Doctor doesn't take proper care of his TARDIS. You see, Jimmy? That grinding noise has been hurting her, you know. But does the Doctor care?"

"Stop that." Twelve said, glaring at the Master.

"I told you, I like that noise." Ten said, looking at the TARDIS and frowning a bit. "But I guess if it's hurting her, I could try and stop."

"We've landed." River told them.

Jack frowned. "You see, I could've told you that if we'd had the noise." He said. "I liked the noise."

"Well, anyway." Amy cut him off. "Rory is somewhere out there-"

"Beneath the pale moonlight?" The Master asked excitedly. "Is he thinking of you and loving you tonight?"

"Would you stop being so random?" Jack snapped. "That didn't even make any sense!"

"Did you just shush me!?" The Master asked him, grinning.

"Forget it!" Jack said, throwing up his hands. "I'm not getting into this with you right now. It's just ridiculous!"

"Alright, let's go get Rory." River said, walking to the door of the TARDIS. Everyone all went forward at once and River hesitated. "We can't all stampede out there like a herd of buffalo." She said. "Some of us should stay behind."

"I vote me, the tin dog, Dr. Song, Harkness and the Blondie come." The Master said, raising his hand. "Not the Blondie like Blondie, Bad Wolf Blondie, Blondie like the Doctor's daughter, Blondie."

"I want to come." Amy said, glaring at Twelve as if his was the deciding vote. "He's my husband."

"We don't want you getting hurt, Amy." Twelve told her. "That's why Martha's not coming."

"Wait, when did we decide that?" Martha protested. "Of course I don't want to risk the baby, but this is important."

"And why am I not on the list?" Kara asked Twelve. "I mean, I can see why you'd want to protect Jimmy, but I can take care of myself."

"And wha' about me?" Rose also asked, glaring. "I could help, I'm pretty good with a gun these days, you know."

"Why are you all upset at me?" Twelve asked. "It's _his_ list." He gestured to the Master. "I didn't make it."

"Ugh, this is supposed to be a happy occasion." The Master said. "Let's not bicker and argue about who killed who."

"One of these days I'll be able to understand what you say." Donna sighed. The Master grinned at her. "Oh I doubt it." He said happily.

"Oh well, just gather or something." River said in annoyance. The Master raced to her side and grinned excitedly as Jack, Kara, Ten, and Jenny all joined them.

"We'll be right back." Ten told them. "Martha, watch the monitor." Martha nodded and turned to the big screen.

"Amy, you too." River prodded. "Just in case you see anything suspicious."

"In fact, why don't you all watch the screen?" The Master said, rolling his eyes. "Sally can heat up some microwave popcorn and Craig can bring the snacks. Movie night in the TARDIS!"

"We could do without the sarcasm you know." Jack sighed, also rolling his eyes.

"Did you just shush me again!?" The Master exclaimed.

"Oh, let's just go already." River said before Jack could respond. She pulled out her gun and then pushed open the door. Jack, Kara, and Jenny all also trained their weapons on their surroundings, but they were just in an open room.

"Ah, you see." The Master said, as he also stepped out of the TARDIS. "You should've let me drive. Now let's see. Floor I, cell block. Nope, not in a cell block, obviously. Separated. Eleven's in a cell block, but the other guy got taken to some other place. Why would the TARDIS take us here? Is this place important?"

At that moment the doors of the room were flung open and four guards walked in, two of whom were leading a man dressed up in Roman wear with them as they walked.

For a second, everyone stopped, almost as if to ascertain each other.

"Nobody moves, nobody gets blown up." The Master said, holding up his hands and smirking at the guards.

"How can you blow them up?" Jack asked him, training his gun on the soldiers and looking at the Master in exasperation. "We didn't even give you a gun."

"Yes, but they don't know that." The Master said. "Well, now they do. And I have other ways of blowing people up then with just a gun. You don't know everything about me."

"Call more guards." One of the guards ordered. One of the others turned and started to leave.

"Wait just a second." River said. "I don't think you quite understand the gravity of the situation. Most of us have guns and one of us is very fond of explosions. And we're all pretty vengeful people who also happen to be slightly crazy. So if you would just give us your prisoner there, we'll be on our way and you four gentleman can continue on living your lives. It's a win win."

"And I take it the prisoner that we're picking up is the Roman guy, correct?" The Master wondered, turning to River. "Yes, that's right." River agreed.

"What are you?" The Master asked Rory, who looked rather confused. "A guard? Soldier?"

"Centurion." Rory answered, blinking in bewilderment. "Um, River, what's going on? Are these the troops?"

"Kill them," The guard who had given the order to go get some more help said. The others positioned their guns, and Jack, River, Kara, and Jenny all got ready to fire.

"Wait, I just want to point something out." Ten said, throwing Jack and Jenny in particular warning glances. "As far as killing us goes, you obviously haven't thought things through. You see, I'm not much for fighting, but I'm rather clever. And being clever, I generally know when it's good to fight or to fly. And in this case, we wouldn't get very far before you all shot us. But what if you couldn't see us?"

"But they can see us." Kara reminded him while beside her the Master grinned as though he understood something.

"It's so simple," Ten said. "So very very simple, that you would never even expect it. You, there, standing all impressive like, holding your fancy weapons, your big guns, you feel just about invincible. But you're going to be taken down by a very simple thing, something you would never expect."

"What are you going to do, stick your tongue out at us?" The guard sneered.

"Really?" The Master said sarcastically. "That's your comeback? I've heard better comebacks from wrackspurts. As if sticking his tongue out would do anything. I'll show you!"

He then stuck his tongue out at the guards. Ten ignored him and plowed on.

"You see, I'm the Doctor," he continued. "And all of my companions, whether old or new, are all very good and very experienced at one thing. And they're very good at doing this on command. Also, if you did your research on me, then you would know that, though I don't carry weapons, I'm always armed."

The soldiers fidgeted and the one who seemed to be in charge scoffed. "Armed with what?" He asked. "We could kill you right now and you wouldn't be able to defend yourself."

"Now that's where you're wrong." Ten said. "Apparently, you _didn't_ do your research because I've got something that people always forget about, something that wouldn't seem very handy in a fight. It just does trivial things like start the coffeemaker and fix the television set and open doors and that sort of thing. Simple. You wouldn't understand. But it also turns off lights. And if you can't see us then you can't shoot us." He turned to the assembled group and grinned, pulling his screwdriver out of his pockets. "Get ready to do what all companions do best." He flicked on his screwdriver and the lights went out. "RUN!"

"I'll be right back." The Master said through the darkness, and then he turned and disappeared.

"Master!" Ten called in exasperation, but all he heard in response was a laugh. The guards started shooting at them and Jack, River, Jenny, and Kara all started to return fire.

"Everyone back in the TARDIS!" Ten shouted to them. "Jack that means you, just leave it!"

"Rory?" River called through the dark. "Here, River." Rory called back, just a few feet away from Ten, who jumped a bit.

Amy opened the TARDIS doors from the inside and some light spilled into the corridor. "Everyone in." Ten called. Everyone rushed in and he turned to the rest of the room. "Master!" He shouted. "We've got to go!"

An explosion sounded from across the room and then the Master appeared, breathless and shaking from laughter. "Alright," He said. "Now we can go."

"How did you-?" Ten started in surprise, but then he decided that he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Just get in."

"And you said I couldn't do it," The Master said, smirking at Jack, who looked to be a mixture of annoyed and wary at the same time.

"Okay, you can do it," he said. "You think that makes us trust you more?"

"You're broken!" The Master said. "If I had a muffin, I would throw it at your head!"

"That didn't make any sense either!" Jack shouted, throwing his hands in the air.

"Just get in the TARDIS." Ten yelled in frustration, feeling as though he was talking to a couple of arguing boys.

Jack turned and stalked back into the TARDIS and the Master pouted indignantly before following him. Ten sighed and also went into the TARDIS.

"River, take us away." He said.

"On it." River said, rushing to the TARDIS and starting to punch in coordinates.

"Do we have everyone?" Ten asked the room in general. "Rory?"

"Here." Rory said, looking breathless and slightly confused.

"Jenny?" Ten continued, Jenny answered him and he moved on. "Jack? River? Master?"

"All here." The Master said. "Remember? You yelled at Harkness and me and then River started up the TARDIS?"

"And now we wait for the Doctor to call." Twelve said, leaning against a railing. "That probably won't take very long."

"Wait, what?" Rory said. "He's probably worried or something, we should go get him now."

"We have to wait, Rory." Twelve insisted. "But don't worry. He'll be fine."

"You know, it's actually a good thing that we have to wait." The Master said as he walked over to the TARDIS and inspected it critically. "I wanted to do some last minute repair work. She's so needy." He sighed.

"So," Rory said, turning to Ten. "You're the former Doctor, right? Either that or the Doctor clone."

"Former Doctor." Ten told him. "Well, I'm the current Doctor. Well, to me I'm the current Doctor. To everyone else I'm the former Doctor though."

"And I'm the future Doctor." Twelve said, walking up to Rory and smiling like he hadn't seen him in years. "Future to everyone but Kara and Jimmy, who are my future companions."

"And while we're at it," The Master said. "That's Martha Smith formerly Jones, her husband Mickey the Idiot, and their soon to be born child, who they're thinking of naming after me."

"No we're not." Mickey sighed. "We told you already. We wouldn't name him 'the Master' even if you weren't evil and annoying."

"Over there is Jack Harkness, who runs Torchwood institute," Continued the Master, still grinning even though Mickey had just insulted him. "And Sally Sparrow and her fiancé Larry Nightingale. I also don't believe that you've met Craig, who's a friend of your Doctor's, or Jenny, who is your sort of step granddaughter. There's Rose Tyler the Bad Wolf and also the Wannabe Doctor John Smith the clone and the DoctorDonna human meticrisis Donna Temple-Noble, who would've probably traveled with the Doctor for about forever if she hadn't had to once forget everything that she went through with the Doctor. And then there's me. I'm the brilliant, creative and quite sarcastic genius, generally called the Master. But I was once known as Harold Saxon." He looked around the room and gave a winning smile. "Thank you all for voting for me, by the way." He turned back to Rory. "Now then, any questions?"

"You were confusing on purpose weren't you?" Jack asked the Master, glaring. "And how do you know everybody here voted for you? I didn't."

"You would've if you hadn't been thirty trillion years into the future at the time." The Master said. "Trust me; I know this kind of stuff."

"No, you don't." Jack said, though he didn't deny that that was in fact the reason that he didn't vote for him. "And some of these guys might've seen through your little hypnotist act."

"Because you did that so well yourself." The Master said sarcastically. "I'll have you know that I won in a landslide. The other guy even announced _on air_ that I would make a much better Prime Minister. I mean, how often do you have a Prime Minister that can multitask like I did?"

"You mean like, plotting your world takeover, hunting Martha, the Doctor, and me and destroying the government at the same time?" Jack asked him sarcastically. "Because that doesn't sound like-"

"Just ignore them." Amy said to Rory, who looked incredibly bewildered. "They fight like this all the time. It's almost like they're really deranged brothers except the Master has to keep on trying to resist the urge kill Jack."

"And it's more difficult then you know." The Master said, turning away from his argument for a second. "What with how easy it would be to kill him _right now_. And it wouldn't even do that much damage physically, because he would come back, the wrong messed up thing that he is. Bleugh."

"Oh, and you've been _so_ grand yourself." Jack said, rolling his eyes and directing the Master's attention back on himself. "Keeping all kinds of information from us."

"I told you already." The Master said. "I forgot about Dalek's Caan's 'Tenissfuin is waiting' prediction until right at that moment. You know, I don't think you're quite achieving the proper amount of thankfulness right now."

Donna groaned and Ten began to massage his temples as Kara started mocking Jack and the Master behind their backs.

"Like I said." Amy told Rory. "They're like this all the time. Everyone's been getting pretty tired of it." She turned to Jack and the Master. "Master!" She called loudly.

Jack and the Master both jumped and looked around at her. "What?" The Master asked, some annoyance still in his voice.

"I'm fairly thirsty. Do you think you could go grab some water for me and River and Sally?" Amy continued sweetly. Sally raised her eyebrows at the Master and River smiled at him mischievously.

"Anything to get away from the Freak." The Master agreed after a second. But he smiled at the three girls and left the room.

"Jack." Amy said, turning to Jack in exasperation as soon as the Master had left. "One of these days he's really going to kill you again if you don't cool it."

"But he's being so…" Jack started, gritting his teeth together in frustration, apparently unable to find a word to describe how the Master was acting.

"She's right, Jack." Ten agreed with Amy. "It's not good to push him."

"Why did that get him to leave?" Rory wondered, looking at Amy curiously. Amy shrugged. "He likes River and Sally and I think he likes me fine." She said. "And for some reason, he seems to get in a better mood just when we talk to him or smile or something."

"I'll tell you why," Jack said unhappily. "It's because he likes the attention. He likes to be liked. It makes him feel better about being such a jerk all the time."

"That's what you're going with?" The Master said from the top of the stairs, holding three glasses of ice water and glaring with actual frustration. "I just like them; that's it. They remind me of someone." He walked down the stairs and handed River her glass with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to believe that." Jack said, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Believe what you want." The Master said. This time it was him who gritted his teeth as he handed Amy her glass. "That doesn't change… Oh forget it. Just take your water." He handed the last glass of water to Sally, who took it and frowned at Jack almost as if to say 'drop it'.

"Just because you're mad at Jack," Amy said to the Master. "Doesn't mean that you should be mad at us. We didn't do anything to you."

"Do you think that matters to him?" Jack scoffed bitterly. "He'll take out his anger on anybody. Trust me; he did it to me and the Doctor every time Martha got away from his little spheres."

"Would you get over that, Harkness?" The Master exclaimed angrily. "Obviously, I'm a good guy now. So if you'd just back off and let me be, then I'd be a whole lot happier. But no, you have to go and spread your freakiness all over the place."

"I can't help the fact that I'm a fixed point." Jack scoffed. "Any more then you can help the fact that you're an insane psycho maniac."

The Master paused for a second. "You are so lucky," He said slowly. "That I'm actually _trying_ to do something good right now. Because if I wasn't you would be so dead. And then, I would kill you again. In the most painful way possible."

"Oh, give it a rest." Donna groaned. "Jack, control yourself. Master, stop threatening to kill Jack repeatedly. You know you're not gonna do it."

"I know," The Master said, running a hand through his hair and sighing. "But a guy can dream, can't he? And he's re-ee-ealy annoying me. Doctor," He whined, turning to Ten. "Can't you do something about your thing?"

Ten sighed in annoyance. "Can't you just stop arguing and move on?" He asked them. "I know you don't like each other, but this is ridiculous. You two fight more than me and Elizabeth the first!"

"They're sworn enemies." Martha told a confused Amy. "No one knows why. Not even him."

"Well," the Doctor said. "It's been a while since then. Now it makes perfect sense to me."

"Really?" Martha asked. "Why does she hate you?"

The Doctor hesitated. "Oh, you know," he said in a tone that clearly said 'I don't want to talk about it.' "Reasons."

"Oh, whatever." The Master said. "I'm going to go fix the TARDIS up. She needs it, poor thing." He turned and stormed away. "Enjoy your ice water." He called back.


	9. Chapter 8: That Kind of Man

Amy's phone rang and Twelve held up a hand to stop Jack and the Master, who were arguing again. "That'll be Eleven." He said. "Amy, go ahead and answer the phone."

Amy hesitated, but flipped open the phone and held it to her ear.

"Amy! Oh, Amy! I'm so sorry!" The Doctor was panting into the phone, and Amy frowned.

"What?" She asked bluntly.

"I escaped, but not before they took Rory." The Doctor told her. "They, they killed him. He's dead, Amy. Again! It's all my fault!"

"Doctor," Amy tried to interrupt.

"And I kept yelling at him! The whole time, I just kept yelling at him. You know the last thing I said to him, Amy?" The Doctor continued, seeming to get more frantic as he talked.

"Doctor!" Amy tried again.

"I said "Oh, shut up, Rory!" That's what I said! I told him to shut up! I didn't think they would kill him! And I don't know if I can bring him back this time! Everybody has to die eventually! He can't keep avoiding it forever! Maybe this is the real time! Oh my gosh, I'm so, so, very sorry! Oh, Rory." His voice was cut off, as he apparently stifled a sob.

"DOCTOR!" Amy shouted, effectively shutting him up. "Rory's fine!"

"…What?" The Doctor asked.

Amy laughed. "Of course he's fine, you moron! He's always fine."

"But, Amy, he's not here!" The Doctor said. "I saw them take him away, and he's gone now, there was an explosion or something and I can't find him anywhere!"

"No, you probably can't." Amy said. "Because he's standing right here, next to me."

"What!? How did he get there!?" The Doctor demanded. "And where are you anyway!?"

"Duh!" Amy laughed. "We're in the TARDIS! Twelve told us what was happening, so we flew down and picked him up. He's fine. Oi!" This was directed at Rory. "Come here, and tell the Doctor you're fine!"

Rory walked over and reluctantly took the phone. Holding it up to his ear, he sighed. "Hello, Doctor," he said.

"RORY!" Said the Doctor. "You're alive!"

Rory shrugged. "…Yeah," he said simply.

"Well then, I'm sorry for yelling at you. Now, what did Amy mean by Twelve?"

"Oh," Rory said. "Well, it's… it's you. Well, I guess it's the next you, or something. He showed up and told River what was going on, so she, the Master, and… um, the last you, I guess, all worked together to fix the TARDIS, and then they flew down and picked me up. We should be down there to get you soon."

"Well, why haven't you come to get me yet?"

"Well, Twelve told me that he needed to give you a chance to call before we picked you up." Rory said as explanation, though he sounded pretty confused about it himself. "He didn't tell me why. But don't worry; we'll come get you soon."

The Doctor sighed on the other end of the phone. "Of course he did," he said bitterly. "So I'm _that_ kind of man, then? Always giving them a chance to reflect."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Rory confessed.

"Oh forget it." The Doctor told him. "I guess I had it coming. Anyway, can you come get me soon? Because I've been here for a while, and I would like a chance to see what I'm going to look like."

"Yeah, we'll be on our way soon, the Master just wants to make a few… quick repairs." Rory said, glancing to the corner where the Master had turned back to his work. "I think he likes the TARDIS more then you do."

"Tell Pond that I'll see her soon." The Doctor said, and then the phone clicked off.

Rory hung up the phone and handed it back to Amy. "He says that he'll see you soon." He told her. Amy grinned.

"He really sounded worried, didn't he?" She said, pocketing the phone. "Why do you think Twelve didn't want to pick him up with you?"

"Well," Rory frowned. "I'm not sure. The Doctor – our Doctor – said that Twelve would give people a chance to reflect, maybe he'd wanted the Doctor, Eleven, to reflect on something."

Amy considered that. "But what would he reflect on?" She asked. A groan sounded from across the room. Amy and Rory looked over to see the Master glaring at them as he worked on the TARDIS engines.

"You people are really, _really,_ stupid." He said. "Twelve wanted to give Eleven a chance to think about what the roman guy meant to him. He wanted Eleven to think that he was dead so that he would look back on how impatient and altogether pig headed he was when he and the roman were being a distraction. Duh."

"He wanted him to reflect on me?" Rory asked, confused. "Why? It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Of course it matters!" The Master rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Obviously, it matters. You can't go through life taking advantage of someone just because you can. As far as I can tell, he wasn't acting very much like the Doctor to you. As far as I can tell, he was acting more like me. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for that, but he needed to be jolted back into the Doctor." Here the Master stood and leaned against the wall.

"He was obviously under pressure," He continued, inspecting his nails. "Trying to get things done and running for his life and answering phone calls, and if, in those stressful moments, you got treated unfairly and your needs were neglected, then so be it. You're just Rory the Roman, you'll get through it. Because you're like me, you're like Harkness, you always get through it. And he needed to understand that you mattered. Just like Harkness matters to him, he needed to see that he can't risk you, either."

There was silence in the room as everyone stared at the Master in amazement. He didn't seem to notice and continued talking.

"Well, Twelve probably remembered how good it was that he was made to reflect." The Master said, looking at Rory. "Now you know that the Doctor cares about you, and the Doctor knows that he cares about you. I think that that's a good thing, you know. Every so often everyone needs a chance to reflect. And when they reflect they find out what matters most. Twelve wanted Eleven to reflect so that he would know that you're one of the ones who matter the most."

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Jimmy shouted. The Master blinked and looked around at everyone staring at him.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"That was really deep." Kara said, surprised.

Martha shook her head. "Who knew he had _that_ in him," she said.

"It wasn't that deep." The Master frowned.

Jenny laughed in disbelief. "It was _really_ deep." She said. "I think you're going soft."

"Nope, not me." The Master said, turning back to his work to indicate that this conversation was over. Ten and Twelve exchanged half excited, half amused, grins behind his back and Donna looked hopeful, like she had been waiting for some proof that the Master wasn't as bad as he said he was.

"Is it the hair?" The Master said after a couple of minutes, moving a hand through his blond hair absently and looking bewildered. "It's the hair isn't it?"

"What?" Jack asked, confused by the Master's train of thought.

The Master looked at him with a far away expression in his eyes. "I think it's the hair. You go blonde and suddenly you're a good guy. Because if you think about it, even before the whole get out of the way' thing, I was trying to save a civilization, how was I supposed to know they were evil?"

"Yes, but you tried to save it at the expense of another," Twelve said, more as if he were giving the Master something to think about instead of accusing him.

"Oh, don't try and make me feel better." The Master said, looking as if he was disappointed. "Really, I think I would've turned everyone back to themselves after I got bored of being everywhere at once." He bit his lip and continued running his hand through his hair. "I think it was the explosion. When Lucy tried to stop my revival, I think it affected me in more ways then I thought. Because I wasn't good until a little bit after that."

"Can someone explain to me what he's talking about?" Amy sighed. "Who's Lucy? And what explosion is he talking about?"

"Lucy was the Master's wife." Jack told her, frowning. "He took her to the end of the universe to watch the human population die. All of us prisoners felt sorry for her, as we watched her grow more and more like us, and we watched the life drain out of her beautiful face. Poor girl."

"Well, you can all be proud of her." The Master sighed. "Because if it was really the explosion that turned me into a good guy, then she's to blame for it."

"Or to be thanked." Ten pointed out. "After all, you're here. You're alive and breathing. It really can't be that bad to be on our side."

The Master squinted as he thought. "I don't know." He said, sounding frustrated. "Do I like it? Do I hate it? Do I excel at it? Is it something that I want to keep doing? Is being a good guy something that disgusts me? Or is it something that, perhaps, excites me? I feel like I'm riding some weird high that I can't get off of. That I don't know if I want to get off of."

The Master paused and then sighed. "It's the hair, isn't it?" He asked Ten. "I'm infected because I'm blonde. Like your daughter or Bad Wolf over there. Blonde hair equals good guy. That must be it."

"Must be." Ten lied, trying to hide his satisfied grin. The Master shook his head and turned back to the wall of the TARDIS, stroking it absently and frowning thoughtfully as if he was the one who was reflecting now.

"Well..." Ten said after a moment. "I guess we ought to go get Eleven now, am I right, Doctor?"

Twelve nodded, smiling a little. "Yes," he said. "Yes, now's the time. Let's go!"

* * *

As the TARDIS rematerialized back in the same open room they had found Rory in, River opened the door and stepped through. Eleven was leaning against the wall, looking at the TARDIS with a frown, and River smiled.

"Hello, sweetie," she said.

"It's about time you lot showed up," he said testily, straightening up and walking towards the TARDIS. "It's so boring, standing around in an empty room."

"Sorry," River said, her eyebrows raised. "Think about that next time _you're_ late picking _me_ up!"

"Right," Eleven said, pointing his finger over his shoulder as he walked past her into the TARDIS. "Noted."

"Whoa, you're right," Jack said to Amy as Eleven came in. "He _is_ pretty goofy looking."

"Oi!" Eleven said with a glare, before his face broke into a smile. "Hello, Jack," he said. "It's been while."

"Doctor," Jack said with a smile.

"Oh, come here!" The Doctor said with a grin, pulling Jack into a hug. "And you too, Miss Martha Jones," He said, reaching over with his free arm and pulling Martha into the hug.

"Oh, but it's Smith now, isn't it?" He asked, pulling out of the hug and smiling at Martha, who nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "There's got to be a Smith on board!"

"And speaking of Smiths!" The Doctor said, turning to Mickey and patting his shoulder. "Congratulations, Mickey the Idiot, on taking my leftovers. Oh, didn't mean to say that. Sorry." Changing the subject quickly, Eleven turned to Donna. "Earthgirl," he said. "You remember me!"

"Oi," Donna said. "I just remember skinny over there. Not you, bowtie spaceman."

"Oh, gimme a hug anyway," Eleven said. "And Rose! How nice to see you again!"

With a look from River, however, Eleven had to forego the hug with Rose.

"Yes, yes, we're all triply introduced," The Master said in irritation. "Now then, paradox machine over our heads, can we PLEASE get back to the plan?"

"Right," Eleven said.

"Doctor," Ten said, putting his specs on and frowning at Eleven. "What can you tell us about the Tenissfuin?"

"They're definitely the Tenissfuin," He said. "The language, the knowledge, everything about them fits with legend. The security around the place is very refined. However, Rory and I found something while we were running around."

"Nearly dying," Rory inputted. "Is that what you were so excited about?"

"Yes, sorry about the shouting," The Doctor said. "I just really wasn't expecting it is all. What we found was the heart of the Paradox, coincidentally enough, located in the heart of the ship. "

"Right then," John said. "Whatever plan we come up with will have to revolve around how to destroy that machine."

"We'd better get to it then," Jenny said. "We don't know how long they're going to wait before they begin 'consuming' everything."

"Yeah, that'd be good," Craig said. "I'm not really looking forward to finding out what that means."

"Let's get to thinking then," John said.

Eleven, Ten, Twelve, John, and the Master began pacing back and forth, seeming to just narrowly miss each other while they walked in circles. Everyone watched them anxiously, waiting for them to think of a plan.

"You," John began, pointing at Eleven, who held up a hand to stop what he was going to say.

"Small window, floor one, recently repaired so that no more intruders could get inside." He said, answering some unasked question, much to the befuddlement of the companions.

"Maybe the TARDIS…" Started Ten, but here the Master stopped him as he flung his arm out dramatically, just missing hitting John on the head.

"No, too noisy," He said.

"No, he's right." Twelve agreed. "They'd have their guards on us the moment we went through the door. We've really got to think here."

"Maybe separately?" John suggested.

"You don't mean one at a time?" Eleven said, looking stressed as he fixed up his hair a little.

"No, groups," John said.

"He's right. Well, I'm right." Ten said as he walked, half mangling his hair in his anxiety. "Well, John Smith is right. We can't go in one at a time, but if we go in separate teams…"

"Different groups, different missions." Eleven said, smiling.

"Two groups, one to sneak into Mordor…" The Master grinned.

"One for distractions, oh yes!" Ten exclaimed, looking excited once again.

"Um, is someone gonna tell me what's goin' on?" Rose asked, looking annoyed as she tried to follow the rapid conversation.

"I think they're… thinking." Jack said uncertainly, like he didn't quite know.

"Other windows?" John asked Eleven, but Twelve answered.

"No windows, no nothing." He said.

"Doors locked tight." Eleven put in.

"Ooh, I know." The Master said happily, raising his hand like a child would. "We'll blow it up!"

"No blowing anything up!" Ten protested. "We're here to _help_, not destroy them!"

"We may have to do just that." John started, biting his lip.

The Master groaned in frustration. "I didn't mean kill them!" He snapped. "Doesn't anyone have explosives that can take out a small percentage of the building, say a corridor or a wall like I suggested?"

"I've got explosives." Jack inputted.

"Actually that might work." Eleven said, continuing to pace. "Twelve, what do you think?"

Twelve groaned. "Am I going to have to quote River all the time?" He asked, exasperated. "No spoilers! I really wish I could tell you what to do, but I just can't. You'll have to just see for yourself."

"Fine then, how do we split the teams?" Ten asked. "We can't pick like in football or something, we've got to have reason behind choice."

"Amy's with me." Eleven started picking straight off. "And Rory."

"What?" Ten said disbelievingly. "I just said no picking teams!"

"Well, I want Donna." The Master snapped back at Eleven, ignoring Ten completely. "And… Jimmy! I want to know that they're in good hands, and whose hands are better then mine?"

"You can't just pick the people that you like best!" Ten protested, turning to look at the Master. "And, anyway, why would you get Donna?"

"Not like it matters." The Master sighed.

"What are you talking about? Of course it matters!" Ten said. "And before we pick teams, we've got to decide who leads what group. Group one; stealth mode, group two; distractions."

"The Doctor's gotta lead the distraction," Jack said, with a smirk.

"Yeah," Kara agreed. "Definitely the Doctor."

Amy laughed. "Of course," she said. "The Doctor's always being a distraction."

"Oh, you know it!" River agreed, smiling flirtatiously at Eleven. She seemed to be saying something other than what the other three had meant.

"Wait a minute," Rose interrupted, looking at the four of them. "Are you even talking about the same Doctor?"

Everyone looked at each other hesitantly, as the Doctors and the Master looked around in amusement.

"Eleven," Amy said.

"Twelve," Kara said.

"Ten," Jack exclaimed, looking at the other two incredulously.

"Eleven," River smiled. "Though I don't mind the others."

"We knew who _you_ were talking about," The Master told her.

"Ten took off a perception filter in the middle of a televised meeting of world leaders on a war ship that was being invaded by deadly flying spheres, and then tried to charge _that _guy." Jack said, nodding toward the Master, who chuckled and looked off into the distance as if he were remembering good times past.

"Twelve flew an airplane into the World Police Headquarters, singing opera at the top of his lungs," Kara shot back. This time it was Jimmy chuckling and looking away.

"Well, Eleven jumped in front of a cyberman, waved his arms, and yelled 'Look at me, I'm a target'!" Amy said smugly. "That in itself screams distraction, literaly."

"Too bad Nine isn't here," Rose said thoughtfully.

Jack scoffed. "What would _he_ do," he said. "Throw a banana at 'em?" Rose and all three of the Doctors laughed at this.

"Banana's are good," Eleven said, causing more laughs from Twelve, Ten, Jack and Rose before he himself dissolved into giggles once more.

"I think Ten should do it," Rose said once everything had quieted down. "He ran the Olympic torch in the 2012 London Olympics."

"Yeah, I saw that," Martha said. "It about gave me a heart attack."

"I saw that too," Jack said, with far less enthusiasm. "My team got the call that everyone in the stadium disappeared on national television. Before we could figure out what happened, they all showed up again. We were still trying to figure out what was going on, and then bam. Doctor, torch, millions of screaming fans. Still have no idea what on earth that was about."

He looked at Ten for an explanation, but the Master cut him off.

"Oh, for heavens sake, pick Ten!" He said, bored of the conversation. "He jumped out of a crashing spaceship, fell through a skylight, and pointed a gun at the Lord President of Gallifrey."

"I did what!?" Ten exclaimed, looking horrified, at the same time that Donna glared at him and said "You did what!?" And River glared at the Master. "Oi," she said. "Spoilers!"

"Well, he has a point," Eleven said. "Ten is a pretty good distraction. Although I still think I've got a few tricks up my own sleeve," He finished with a smile, reaching up and straightening his bow tie.

"Oh, but you've had a turn already!" Ten said, using his fantastic frowny, pouty, serious yet simultaneously joking face that your humble author cannot describe because David Tennant's facial expressions are epic beyond description. It kind of looks like this. *Does face to the best of my ability.* But you all didn't see that, did you?

"Yes, I think it's Ten's turn," The Master said.

"Alright then," Ten said with a grin. "I get to lead the distraction!"


	10. Chapter 9: Questions and Risks

"Alright, so we have a leader for Team Two," Eleven said, indicating Ten, who smiled. "So now, I nominate myself to lead Team One."

"Well, why do you get to lead it?" Kara said. "Why not Twelve?"

"Because, stupid," The Master said. "Twelve has already made it very clear that he's here for support, not leadership. He can't risk influencing his timestream."

"No need to be insulting," Kara snapped back with a glare. "It was just a question."

"A _stupid_ question," The Master corrected. "But really, what else could be expected?"

"Hey," Ten said warningly. "Just drop it, Master. It was an innocent enough question."

"Those are the best kind," The Master said, beginning to talk quickly. "Because those are the questions that open doors to completely new grounds, those are the questions that make people stop and think, and plot and plan and scheme and strategize, all because someone bothered to ask an innocent enough question that changed the course of the universe."

"What's he talking about?" Sally asked, looking at the Master.

"Questions, questions, questions, questions!" The Master continued, ignoring the others completely. "All of them innocent, all of them deadly, just waiting in the air for someone to ask them! Who, what where, when, why, how? Curiosity abounds, questions are asked, choices are made, choices make moments, moments make time! All of time and space can be wrapped up in questions."

"Master," Eleven tried, but the Master just kept talking.

"No question is innocent, no answer is safe," he said. "Curiosity is dangerous, curiosity is oh, so dangerous! As long as people just go on and on and on and on with their lives and never think, never wonder, never ask questions, they are safe, for the moment. Safe and normal and unnoticed, while the world goes by and leaves them be! But then, one of them looks up at the sky, and asks "Who am I?" And then, suddenly, nothing makes sense, nothing is real, nothing works, nothing is worth anything, because _what am I_?"

"I think he's derailed, in a manner of speaking," Twelve said. "Which is to say, he's lost his train of thought."

"I can see that," River said, looking at the Master curiously. "What do you think he means?"

"What does _anything_ mean?" The Master asked, turning to her. "What do _you_ mean? What does_ he_ mean?" He turned to the Doctor. "What does _life_ mean? What's the point of existence? To what end and to what purpose are we even alive at all? Do you _see?_ Do you_ see_ how an innocent enough question can cause all the damage in the world? 'I think, therefore, I am,' as that human person said once. Well, how about: 'I ask, therefore, I risk?' I think it's a much more accurate statement, don't you?"

"And what's wrong with asking questions?" Rose demanded.

"Exactly!" The Master said, pointing at Rose as if she had said something brilliant. "If you never ask, you never learn! If you never learn, you never expand! If you never expand, you never get noticed! If you never get noticed, nothing will ever happen to you! If you spend your entire life hiding under a rock because you never bothered to ask 'what else is out there', then you never get hit by a car!"

"Well, who's to say that would happen?" Rose argued back. "Yeah, maybe you will! But if you don't risk it, you miss out on everything life can give you!"

"There it is again, risk," The Master said. "I never said you shouldn't ask questions, I just said that questions are a terrible risk! I guarantee it, every disaster, every death, every tragedy since the beginning of time has been brought about because of a question!"

"Anyway," Ten said pointedly. "We still have to decide on a leader for Team One. I think we should go ahead and let Eleven lead it."

"Why?" The Master demanded. "Why should Eleven lead it? Why not John? Oh, now that is a good question! Because the answer may very well be the altering point in our universe! Who knows what will happen if John leads instead? It may be the deciding factor between life or death!"

"How would that be the deciding factor?" Jack asked. "We don't even know what's going to happen."

"Precisely!" The Master said. "We don't know! Isn't that the scariest thing you've ever thought of? The future is literally in our hands, with a simple enough decision following an innocent enough question, and we don't know which one to pick, because we don't know the future. That's why questions are so dangerous."

"I think he's lost it," Martha noted. "And we can't afford to start over-analyzing everything either."

"Right you are," John said. "Let's not begin to second guess ourselves. We'll go ahead and have Eleven be the leader of Team One."

"Over-analyzing!" The Master protested. "Do you realize how important of a decision this is? No, you don't, because you are all stupid little ignoramuses and you don't even know how stupid you are."

"Hey!" Ten said, frowning at the sudden change of subject. "That's enough!"

"Enough of what?" The Master demanded. "Enough of commenting on how stupid all these human pets of yours are?"

"Master," Eleven said seriously. "Stop."

"Oh, you're so defensive," The Master said. "Always protecting them, always shielding them and telling them they're_ sooo_ important when they're really not."

"That's it!" Donna snapped, standing up and glaring at the Master, who blinked in uncertainty. "You, Saxon, are going to zip. It. Now."

"What?" The Master said in confusion. "Are you telling me to shut up!?"

"Yeah," Donna sassed. "And I'm going to hold you to it, too. From now on, you're not allowed to speak unless it's really important."

"Everything I say is really important," The Master argued.

"No," Donna said, holding her finger up. "Until you can control yourself, you're not allowed to speak."

"Stop it!" The Master pouted, glaring at her. "You're treating me like an infant!"

"Well, you're acting like one," Donna returned. "And that gives me an idea."

"Oh, no." The Master said.

"Oh yes," Donna said. Then she turned to John with a confused frown. "Oh, I'm doing it again. Talking like you, Spaceman."

"I noticed that, Earthgirl," John said with a grin.

"Anyway," Donna said, turning back to a horrified Master. "You," she said with a self-satisfied smirk. "Have to raise your hand. Before you speak. And then wait until the Doctor calls on you."

"How are you going to make me!?" The Master demanded.

"You don't even wanna know," Donna said. "Just shut it, y'hear?"

"Hmph," The Master frowned, folding his arms.

Everyone looked at him for a second, and then Ten cleared his throat and turned back to the rest of the group.

"Right then," he said. "Team One will sneak onto floor E, where the heart of the Paradox is located, and see if we can disable it somehow. Team Two will use explosives to barrel ourselves into a floor, drawing as many guards toward our general area as possible."

He got up and began pacing as he talked. "We will need our best fighters on Team Two, or else we'll be putting a lot of people at unnecessary risk."

The Master raised his hand obediently. Eleven rolled his eyes. "What is it now, Master?" He snapped.

The Master smiled. "Well," he said cheerily. "While traveling with Dalek Caan in the Void, he said something about your companions."

Almost everyone in the room recognized the significance in this, and shared uneasy glances. Rory, Amy, Kara and Jimmy all just looked confused.

"Go on," Eleven said, giving his undivided attention to the Master.

"He said that one of them will still die," He said, grinning.

There was silence as everyone processed this information. Ten glared at the smile on the Master's face. The Master's smile faded as he feigned confusion.

"Oh, is that a bad thing then?" He asked innocently.

"Of course it's a bad thing!" Jack said. "That was a prophecy Dalek Caan made. He said that one of the Doctor's companions would die."

"Oh, well then, which one died?" The Master asked pointedly. Eleven and Ten exchanged glances.

"Well," Ten said, standing up. "I figured he was referring to the Metacrisis with Donna. I had to erase all memory of her traveling with me. I figured that was the death of a companion, because as far as she knew, she'd never even been one."

The Master raised his eyebrows. "You mean you accepted that as an answer!?" He asked incredulously. "You see, Jimmy? The Doctor makes stupid mistakes."

Jimmy looked from the Master to Twelve, fidgeting nervously, as Twelve made a sort of strangled growling noise. "Would you cut that out!?" He said.

The Master laughed before turning back to Ten. "You know what I think?" He said. "I think you wanted that to be the death of your companion, because you didn't want to believe that one would still die."

Ten glared. "I suppose so, yes," he admitted quietly. "That was what I'd hoped."

"Well, stop hoping, Doctor!" The Master announced with a grin, jumping up and standing on his chair as he stared down at Ten. "Because I just remembered another thing Dalek Caan told me once. He said that you wouldn't."

Ten paused. "...I wouldn't what?" he asked.

"What?" The Master asked. "Oh! He said you wouldn't remember."

"Now, why wouldn't he remember?" Amy asked. "Wouldn't you remember when someone died?"

Rory glanced at her bemusedly. She rolled her eyes and punched him in the shoulder. "You know what I mean," she said. Then she turned to Eleven. "You don't think the Pandorica could be involved after all, do you?"

"No, I don't think so," he said. "But that's been troubling me, actually. I don't remember any of this."

Amy laughed. "Well, of course not!" She said. "It's happening right now!"

Rory looked at her. "No, Amy, that's him," he said. "He's saying he doesn't remember this happening from his point of view." He nodded towards Ten, who frowned.

Eleven nodded reluctantly. "Rory's right," he sighed. "I don't remember any of this, from Ten's point of view. For me, this is the first time any of this has ever happened. Which, in answer to an earlier question, Doctor, is why I didn't call you in with the rest of the troops. I didn't remember being called."

"Well, that doesn't make any sense," Ten said, frowning and sticking his hands in his pockets. "I'm certainly here now, so why can't you remember?"

"Maybe he's crazy," The Master suggested. "Or maybe you're crazy. Either way, the Doctor's insane. What are your views on this, Twelve?" He said, turning to Twelve.

"I've always been insane," Twelve said. "I thought we'd established that?"

The Master rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean about the insanity, although thank you for agreeing with me. Jimmy, you heard that. The Doctor just admitted he was insane. Watch out for that."

Twelve huffed as the Master jumped down from his chair and began pacing the room. "What I meant by my question was this, Twelve," he said. "Do _you_ remember this at all?"

Everyone turned towards Twelve as he sighed. "Yes," he said. "I remember all this, from Eleven's point of view. That's why I came, I remember myself showing up. But I can't give you any answers, it's the same rule I always take with River. No spoilers."

"Hey, you have that written on a T-shirt!" Jimmy said excitedly.

Twelve smiled. "Yes," he said. "I always liked that one."

"Can we get back to the subject at hand, please?" The Master said, exasperated. "So, a recap: Eleven doesn't remember anything, which means Ten will forget everything, and a companion is going to die. My question is; do I count?"

Everyone looked at him. "What?" Eleven asked.

The Master sighed. "Do I count? You know, as a companion. I mean, I'm traveling with you, on a mission to save the world, lots of running, all that. Are you counting me as a companion?"

All the Doctors exchanged glances again. They were all thinking along the same lines. Happiness and pride and ecstasy over the Master being on their side, and horror, trepidation, and wariness all at the same time.

"I was thinking that way, yeah..." Ten said absently.

"Well, stop counting me!" The Master demanded. "I'm not your companion, yeaulgh!" He made a revolted face, as if the idea somehow disgusted him. "I'm just here until this all blows over. Beats being in the Void and all that. Besides, I'm not prepared to take another bullet for you. Die on your own time, I'm not in this!"

"What are you talking about?" Eleven said. "You're totally in this! You just said you were practically a companion, traveling with me, saving the world, you even remembered the running!"

"Don't you dare count me as a companion, or I'll switch sides and blow you all up!" Said the Master.

Everyone paused.

Twelve sighed. "Fine," he said. "We won't count you as a companion. Officially."

"What is this new thing with you and blowing things up?" asked Ten.

The Master shrugged. "It's just something I do now," he said, sitting back down.

"So... one of us is going to die?" Martha said quietly. All eyes turned to her. She shifted her weight nervously. "Normally, I wouldn't care," she said. "I would be the first to volunteer for the mission, regardless of the risk, but... I have someone else to think about now."

They all glanced down at her stomach, she was just beginning to show. "No, she's right," Mickey said. "We can't risk the baby, or Martha."

"On that note," John spoke up. "I'm not risking Rose. We have a kid of our own back home, and she needs us."

Rose looked up at him, her mouth open in surprise. "But, I wanna help," she said. "I can't just sit back and wait while everyone else goes off to battle!"

John looked down at her. "But what about Jackie and Pete?" He said. "They need you. And Susie needs a mother. We can't risk you dying now, not after all the work we did to keep you alive this long as it is."

"I agree," Ten said, scowling. "We can't risk it."

Eleven nodded. "I'm afraid the Doctor's right," he said, smiling. He liked hearing himself say that he was right. "We can't risk you, Rose."

"Pardon me," River said dangerously. "I'm your wife!" (At this, Rose, Martha, Mickey and Jack all raised their eyebrows.)

"Right," Eleven said, looking nervous and uncomfortable. "Um, River dear, we can't risk you either, you're far too important to us- er, me!"

River looked incredulous. "You got that right, sweetie!" She said. "But risk it or not, I'm coming!"

Larry looked confused. "Wait... I thought you just said-" He started.

Sally nudged him in the ribs. "Oh, forget it," She said, while Mickey, who was sitting next to him, laughed.

"Don't worry, mate," he said. "The female mind is hard to understand. You'll get it eventually."

Larry still looked confused, but he shook it off and turned his attention back to Eleven, who fidgeted nervously before straightening his bow tie and turning back to the rest of the group.

"So then," he said. "Rose and Martha, you two are staying behind."

"No," Rose insisted. "I'm not stayin' behind! I wanna come help!"

"Rose," John said, looking her in the eye. "Think about Susie. She needs you. She's brilliant, just like her mother. And she needs to know that you're coming back to take care of her."

"And what about you, then?" Rose argued. "You're her dad, you think she doesn't need you?"

"Now, that's different," John said, raising his eyebrows and holding his hands up in the air.

"Do you know how hard it is?" Rose continued. "Growin' up without a dad? You saw me, you know how young I was when he died. You want Susan to go through the same thing?"

"It's not that," John said in frustration. "I can't... I can't just stay behind, I have to help!"

"But I feel that way too," Rose said. "I wanna help, but you're right. Susie needs us. She needs both of us. I don't want her to grow up without a dad. I'll stay behind this time, but only if you stay with me."

"Rose," John protested. "I can help, I could really make a difference."

"No," Rose said. "Either we both go, or we both stay. I'm not leaving you."

Rose held her hand out to John, who waited for a moment before taking it. "Fine," he said with a sigh. "We'll both stay."

"Well, in that case," Craig said. "I think... I think maybe I should stay back, too.. At least, for this part. I mean, Sophie and Alfie are out of town, and I wanna do what I can to help, but... this isn't something I have a lot of experience with. I think- I think I'd be more in the way than an actual help."

"Oh, you don't know that," Eleven said with a smile. "Maybe you'd be brilliant!"

"Yeah," Craig scoffed. "And maybe I'd say something foolish and blow the whole mission."

"I agree," The Master said. But with a look from Donna, he sighed and folded his arms again, sulking down at the floor.

"Alright," Eleven said. "If you feel that way, I'm not going to force you to come. But I still think you'd be brilliant."

"So Rose, John, Craig and Martha are staying behind," Jenny recapped. "Anyone else want to stay behind?"

"Mickey," Martha said. "How about you?"

"You know I would love to stay with you," Mickey said. "But I can't. Martha, the Doctor needs all the help he can get. Now, we're not willing to risk you or the baby, but I'm going to stay with him and do everything I can to help."

"But what about me?" Martha said. "I'm not willing to risk you. We've always been around to keep each other safe. What if something happens and I'm not there to get you out of it?"

"Hey, don't worry about me," Mickey said with a smile. "Just ask Jack. I'm impossible to get rid of."

Jack snorted. "You got that right," he said. "You're even harder to get rid of than me, and that's saying something."

Martha frowned. "Just because you've always managed to stay alive so far doesn't mean you're indestructible," she said. "Don't go! I need you with me."

Mickey sighed again. "Martha," he said. "I love you, but I'm going." He nodded towards Ten and smiled. "Somebody needs to be around to keep him out of trouble. Technical support, and all that."

Martha sighed. "I know," She said. "Just... be careful. You had better get back here in one piece!"

"I'll do my best," Mickey said with a smile, leaning over and giving her a hug.

"Yeah, you'd better," She said. "I love you."

"Like you need to tell me," He said back.

"Not that this isn't interesting," Said the Master. "But can you stop now?"

Mickey sighed. "Alright, boss," He told Ten. "You got my answer. I'll do whatever you need me to."

"Oh, Mickey!" Twelve said with a grin. "We're all proud of you!"

Everyone turned to him in bewilderment.

"What?" The Master said, eyebrows raised.

Twelve looked at everybody and then back at Mickey. "I'm proud of you," he said. "I've always been proud of you, even before I was me."

Mickey just looked confused. "Uh, thanks," he said awkwardly. "So, what, you're the emotional Doctor or something?"

Jack snickered as Twelve smiled. "I guess you could say that, yeah," he admitted.

Amy nudged Eleven and smirked. "You see that?" She said. "You're going to be the emotional Doctor."

"Oh, shut up," he said testily. He wasn't having a very good day.

The Master looked from Twelve to Mickey and then started laughing.

"What is it now?" Donna asked him in exasperation. The Master shook his head and didn't answer.

"Yep, that settles it." Amy said. "He's insane."

"What was there to settle?" Jack said. "He's always been like that."


End file.
